Oro's Jail
by Rahlia Indigo
Summary: Something I began at a time of great creativity. I don't know if I'll ever finish it, but I don't care. I still love it to death. It's SasuHina, and contains Orochimaru's dark sexiness. IZ I RIGHTER NAO?
1. The Middle

A/N: This is something I started long ago. I was very excited and imagined I would finish it; this was not the case. Instead, it was left to gather dust inside of my files. Since I feel that I probably won't finish this ever, I've decided to share what I do have. I'm sure it's full of mistakes and crappy writing, but what around here isn't? I hope you enjoy it anyway.

* * *

Lights out.

As soon as he thought it, the single light bulb flickered and its steady glow disappeared. Now the only light in the room came from the tiny barred window set high up into the wall, so high up that the 5'7''shinobi had to stand on his toes to have a glimpse into the outside world. Judging by the amount of light filtering through the metal bars, it was a full moon tonight.

His ears picked up snores from beyond his doorway, grunts and mutters from restless souls fighting against guilty consciences, and the expected echoing demand from the one of the guards. "Quiet! It's lights out!" This place was much too predictable. He was surprised he hadn't been driven insane yet.

The man shifted on his hard bunk. From his view on the floor and the moonlight provided, he could discern the shape of the raised hole that was his toilet and the floating basin that was the sink. Shining as proof of his punishment were the scratches on the wall, the ones he made at the end of every day. He had rows of the markings now, columns, and they had begun to spread onto the adjacent wall.

He sat up in his bunk, squinting his eyes at the markings. He began his nightly ritual of counting the groups, of reminding himself how long he had been here.

In each group there were five slashes, meaning 5 days. He counted out 73 groups. Those 73 groups were an entire year. He counted out 73 more groups. Those accounted for his second year. That left him with 19 more groups. Since each of the 19 groups had 5 slashes, he multiplied them by 5. That made 95, which meant 95 days. If each month had roughly 30 days, those 95 slashes made 3 months and 5 days. If he added the three ungrouped slashes to that number, it would become 3 months and 8 days.

Which, if he added the first 73 groups (1 year) to the next 73 groups (another year) and lastly the 19 groups with the 3 stray slashes (3 months, 8 days), he would get a result of 2 years, 3 months, and 8 days.

He slowly lay back on his mat. 2 years, 3 months, and 8 days. The numbers resonated inside his head. _2 years, 3 months, and 8 days._

Yes, that sounded about right. 2 years, 3 months, and 8 days. The exact amount of time that Uchiha Sasuke had been stuck in this prison.

And he still had a lifetime to go.

* * *

"Wake up!" Black eyes snapped open unwillingly, a scowl quickly forming on his face. He had been having such a pleasant dream.

The guard came stomping down the row, yelling at the inmates. Men shuffled to the toilets and the sinks, sliding off their bunks and yawning. Sasuke remained on his bunk staring at the dirty ceiling. Sparkling in the light from the window were floating particles. Someone had once told him those little floating particles were actually skin cells that he shed. He vaguely wondered if it was true, though he had no reason to doubt it.

With a tired creak, his door slid open. Here was where the day began.

* * *

She took her time as she walked down the hallway, moving as slow as her escort would allow. It was clear that the girl was nervous. She kept glancing back at her, as if hoping to force her to go faster with her eyes. The girl's anxiety showed itself in the audible gulp from her throat and the consistent wringing of her hands. "Hinata-sama," she said in her cracking voice. Hinata smiled lightly. Since when had she earned the title of Hinata-_sama?_ "Hinata-sama," she went on, "we should hurry, or we might be late." She looked about ready to run on without her, she might even have done it if it hadn't gotten her in more trouble. She absolutely had to show up with her. It would mean certain trouble if she didn't.

"Calm down, Ai. They can't begin the meeting without us," said Hinata with a wry smile. She continued in her slow pace, hoping that if she walked slow enough, she might just miss the meeting altogether.

Ai was hoping the same thing. However, her father would be very angry if she didn't show up for the meeting. Anything and everything displeased her father.

"Hinata-sama, please hurry," she said. She sped up. Even though she felt she was being rude, Ai thought it necessary to get Hinata moving. Surely the clan heiress needed to be present for the meeting. The clan elders wouldn't be happy that they had been dragged from their ancient slumber to wait for the likes of the young heiress.

"What's the hurry," asked Hinata to her young companion. The girl couldn't be older than 12 and was every bit a young Hinata. Though she was from the branch family instead of the main family, her hair was indigo, she seemed very nervous, and lacked self esteem because of her tyrant of a father.

"Well…" Ai said hesitantly. She was unsure whether or not she should tell Hinata that she would get in a lot of trouble if she was late for the meeting. But it was probably best if she knew the truth; it might even get her to move faster.

"Hinata-sama, if I'm late to this meeting, father is going to be very angry at me. He'll probably never let me attend any sort of clan gathering ever again. He is very strict." She looked down at her feet, as her eyes had begun to blur behind tears.

Something wrenched inside Hinata. How many times had Hinata been in that exact same position? Perhaps too many to count. And to see history repeat itself made her sad. Clan life was so restricting, so severe, so… wrong. But she didn't want her young escort to get in trouble. However much she had been seriously considering missing out on the meeting, she now moved swiftly towards the meeting hall. It couldn't hurt to go after all.

The meeting was to take place in the largest meeting hall within Hyuuga Manor. The room housed a large circular table several meters wide with a wooden glossy finish. It was a traditional room, with not a single chair in sight. The walls here were 2 feet thick and made of marble, as if that would protect against curious white eyes. It was a testament to the stoicism of the clan, the unchanging austere expressions of the elders, the strict clan rules that the room was the sturdiest of all the chambers in the Hyuuga manor and nothing had been changed here since the initial construction of Konoha.

Inside sat the most ancient Hyuuga members, their faces unreadable hidden beneath layers of sagging skin. At the farthest edge of the table, glaring at the massive doors sat Hyuuga Hiashi, wondering where on earth his oldest daughter could be. To his left sat Hanabi, chin resting on hand, completely bored. Nobody hated clan proceedings more than Hanabi. To Hiashi's right sat Neji, arms tightly folded and glaring at the door same as Hiashi. There was a gaping hole to his right that was begging to be filled by his cousin. And it looked like the elders were getting antsy. Was that a frown he saw upon clan advisor Sanako's face? Oh wait, no, he had been mistaken. The old woman had merely been blinking.

Just as he was thinking this, the door creaked open and in slipped a flustered looking girl followed by his tardy cousin. The girl walked in with a blush quickly spreading across her cheeks and her head hung low. Hinata too had her head lowered and made her way to her seat as quick as she could as to avoid comments. Every head turned to look at her as she passed. The girl had definitely changed in the last few years. But that was not unusual, given her story.

She sat down, saying quietly as she did so, "Sorry I'm late." Neji rolled his eyes. Hanabi exhaled loudly, exclaiming, "Can we get on with this?"

Everyone at the table turned to look at her. Her father growled under his breath, "Hanabi. Behave yourself." Hanabi scowled. Why was she being scolded? _She_ had arrived on time. Why wasn't her sister being scolded? _Right. Nobody dares reprimand Hinata. I miss the good old days._

"Well," said Hiashi, projecting over the circumference of the table. "Let us begin."

* * *

The meeting was long. Very long. The heads droned on for hours. First one hour passed, then two. Then the third hour passed, and it started turning into a fourth. Hanabi paid attention for all of 15 minutes until she began to stare off into space. Hinata tried to keep up for the first two hours, but she often didn't know what the clan heads were talking about and started drifting at about half past the second hour. Neji was alert for 2 hours, then turned catatonic. His eyes were open but his brain was probably hibernating.

It was about hour three that Hinata turned to her right to see how Ai was doing. She expected her to be in the same stupor as 15 year old Hanabi. Instead, she was surprised to find the 12 year old staring somewhere across the table, completely engrossed with something on the other side. Hinata followed her gaze. And was even more surprised at what she found.

Sitting across the table was a boy who looked to be about Ai's age. He had untidy black hair and the white Hyuuga eyes. His eyebrows were lowered in an expression of annoyance and he was drumming his fingers on the table impatiently. She reminded him of someone…

She nudged Ai with her elbow. The girl started and looked up at Hinata. "Who is that boy?" she whispered to her young companion. Still in her trance, Ai followed the direction that Hinata indicated. And then she blushed. Peering down at a smudge on the table, she whispered, "His name is Seigi. He's on my team."

"Oh," said Hinata simply. The way Ai was looking at him… she must really like this boy. This moody, irritated, impatient boy. So very familiar…

She racked her brains, attempting to remember why this boy seemed so familiar. After a few minutes, she gave up. She couldn't seem to remember anyone like him.

* * *

The men were led in single file, like children in their first year of ninja academy. Their orange uniforms stood out like sore thumbs against the backdrop of dingy brick wall and gray flooring. They passed rows of cold metal tables waiting expectantly for them and formed lines for their breakfast of flavorless gray mush.

After Sasuke received his bowl, he made his way to his usual table in the corner. He preferred being alone, yet other men always decided to sit next to him. Some of them came now, their eyes wary and their muscles stiff. To them, he was a mystery. Nobody knew what he had done to get in here. The speculations were many, rumors were whispered behind the sound of water in the steamy showers, and they observed him constantly.

Yet none of the inmates could find out what he had done wrong.

Some said he had killed his entire family. Nobody really knew who had killed the Uchiha clan; it remained a mystery until this day. He would be the easiest to blame. Yet the men somehow couldn't believe that was true. Many of them had been free when the Uchiha clan had first been wiped out. An eight year old Sasuke could never have wiped out that entire clan single-handedly; he had been much too weak back then.

Others had received word from the outside that he had abandoned the village and run off to join Orochimaru. This was pretty much accepted as true. But how had they caught him? Where? There were so many gaps in the story, and curious minds with nothing to wile away the endless hours wanted to know. Who was Uchiha Sasuke?

Only Uchiha Sasuke knew. But Uchiha Sasuke wasn't telling.

Three men sat around him now, tentatively laying their food trays down on his metal table. They acted nonchalant, picking at the gray pulp in their bowls and striking up a rehearsed conversation. It was clear these guys hadn't been here for more than 2 weeks.

"I still say I'm the most badass out of all of you," said the one with a scar cutting vertically down his right cheek. "I took down an entire squad of ANBU by myself. None of your crimes were nearly as cool as that."

The one with the large bulging muscles said in a deep low voice, "Hah! You're lying. I know how you really got in here. You were caught stealing from a flower shop…twice. How the hell do you get caught twice at the same place? And really, a flower shop? No wonder you're lying, that's embarrassing."

Scarred cheek seemed annoyed. "Yeah, like what you did was any better. You beat up a bunch of punk kids and got stuck in here for a few months. At least I didn't mug a bunch of kids."

"Hmm," said the deep voiced guy. "At least I didn't get caught stealing a bunch of flowers…" He drank from his cup of milk. "How about you," he asked the last man, the gangly one with the long silver hair obscuring half his face. "You seem like a nice guy, what did you do?"

This last man appeared to be the newest here. It seemed a bit early for it, but he already had the sallow skin that appeared over time on prisoners. He had dark shadows beneath his violet eyes and a tattoo of purple spots starting beneath the dark shadow of his left eye and extending down into the hollow of his cheek bone, the spots gradually turning smaller and smaller until they disappeared altogether. A tiny scar cut across the man's left eyebrow, giving it a permanently raised look. The corner of his mouth was turned up in a crooked half smile, and he had a slightly manic look in his eye.

"I took down an entire village by myself," he answered matter-of-factly. "I managed to kill their kage, took over their military forces, and held the biggest clan leader in the region hostage, demanding that they give me all their forbidden ninjutsu scrolls and the 7 tails that lived sealed in one of their villagers."

He finished his long confession with a sip from his cup of juice while his companions looked on with dropped jaws. Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow.

"But the nation's allies caught me. Stuck me in this hellhole, along with the likes of you," he said dryly with a tiny nod in the direction of his companions.

The two men remained dazed and Sasuke smirked for the first time in years. This guy was halfway likable.

The other two men didn't think so. They began to stand up slowly, holding their food trays as if they were bombs about to explode. "Um…" said the one with the scar. "We're gonna go now. We'll uh… see you guys later," he muttered. Then they both sped off to the more populated corner of the cafeteria.

The silver-haired man chuckled wryly. He then pushed back his silver hair behind his ears and began eating his gray mush. Sasuke bent his head over his food, still smirking slightly. Finally, thought the notorious Uchiha. Finally, some form of deliverance. Some sort of solace in this godforsaken place. Better yet, the guy was intelligent. He had decided not to speak further, instead deciding to continue sitting across from him, eating his food in a perfect reflection of Sasuke.

It looked like the beginning of a beautiful acquaintanceship.

* * *

She could feel something tugging on her sleeve, an insistent something eager to pull her from her daydreams.

"Hinata-sama," said a small voice to her right. Hinata looked around, slightly dazed. Two large white eyes looked up at her worriedly. "The meeting is over," said Ai as she looked at her superior. Hinata looked around the room. All around the table, people were beginning to stand, some stretching, some yawning, and many of the older clan members blocking the doorway with their snail paces.

"Oh," said Hinata quietly. She stood up unsteadily and followed the crowd out the door. Finally, thought the clan heiress as she slid around a chatting group of elders. Finally it's over. Hinata had begun to think it would never end. She could now feel the prickling sensation climbing up her leg, the clear sign that she had been sitting in the same position for much too long.

After they had made it past the crowd of clan ancients, Hinata made a beeline for the garden. The place was her refuge, sanctuary from the constant nuisances of clan life, the place she disappeared to for hours at a time.

* * *

It seemed as if Sasuke had suddenly become a veteran of the place and his job had changed from that of lone convict to experienced leader. It was as if the warden had designated him with the task of leading around the new guy. He followed him everywhere. After he had finished his food (much faster than Sasuke did) the silver-haired man had flipped around on his bench, leaning back against the table to observe the rest of the inmates. He didn't seem the least bit bothered about being in jail; in fact, he seemed almost cheerful. He never said a word after his peculiar confession but followed along faithfully at Sasuke's side.

He trailed behind Sasuke to the exercise field. The place was a large cement field with wooden posts coming out from the ground where the men could practice taijutsu. Sasuke chose a post and began training. The silver-haired newcomer chose the one right next to him and began training as well. Sasuke raised his eyebrow at this. Exactly why was this guy following him around? Did he enjoy the silence? Was he looking for protection from the rest of the convicts? Or had he heard stories of the notorious Uchiha? If so, he was in for a big disappointment. There was no way this guy would get to hear his story.

After training, the men were led to their respective jobs. Somehow, it didn't really surprise Sasuke that the new guy had been assigned to towel folding duty, just like him. He could see a pattern developing. The guy stood right next to him, folding towels at a steady pace.

After 4 hours of towel folding, side by side, it was time to head to the cafeteria for lunch. It was the same as breakfast. They sat across from each other on the table in the far corner, the lanky man with the corner of his mouth turned up in a half smile, Sasuke's in the thin straight line that had returned. Mostly they both concentrated on their food, each occasionally glancing up to look at the other as if trying to read the other's mind.

In the frequent calculating glances, Sasuke had tried to gather information from the man, though it was difficult as one's appearance did not constitute the kind of person they were. It was also difficult to tell one's past from their face. If what this guy had said was true, then he was a major criminal. You didn't just take over a village, kill their kage, hold a clan leader hostage, and demand sacred scrolls and get assigned towel duty. It just didn't happen that way. Major criminals were usually locked up permanently, caged in a 6 by 6 foot cell, left to rot with time and be disposed of once all that was left was a pile of clean white bone. Clearly, the man had made up his confession on the spot to get rid of the curious idiots. And the gullible fools had believed him.

But not Sasuke. He was much too intelligent for that. And he _was_ going to figure this guy out. It couldn't be any harder than all the other things he had done.


	2. Bunk Buddies

A/N: I expect hard, searing criticism from whoever reads this. I know you're dying to unleash your powers of flamage on this craptacular excuse for a good story, so knock yourselves out.

* * *

"Can we just walk in?"

"Shh! She might hear you!"

"You're the one yelling…"

Hinata peered down at her flowers, pretending not to hear the dispute behind her. They had been at it for about 5 minutes now, debating amongst themselves whether they should come in or not. It was odd; Hanabi never showed much interest in the garden, and Ai was never the type to intrude.

"Anyway… why exactly do you want to hang out with her in the garden? It's just a bunch of plants," said Hanabi, always with something negative to say.

"Well… uh… never mind, l-let's just go," Ai whispered nervously.

Just then, Hinata turned her head over her shoulder. "You can come in if you want," she said softly. The girl shouldn't be made to suffer so much. It wasn't kind.

"U-um… no thank you, I j-just remembered I have to go do something," exclaimed Ai, rushing off to whatever made up task she had thought up. Hanabi stood staring after her. "That girl sure can move fast when she wants to," she muttered.

She entered the garden, sitting down beside her sister, who had returned to her gardening after Ai had ran off. Nothing could keep her from the plants for long. She worked hard in her garden, and her dedication showed; spindly branched plants crept up the walls in intricate designs, flowers bloomed and expelled their scent throughout the space, and weeds were nonexistent.

Medicinal plants thrived among the flowering beauties so that nobody else would be able to find rhyme or reason to the garden, yet she knew exactly which shrub healed which ailment, which ones were merely delicate lilies and which seemingly ordinary leaves had curative properties, and which should not be touched for a certain amount of time after the full moon unless the soil had been sprayed by a male cat during mating season (she had some rarities in her garden that commanded much more attention than the rest).

She took much pride in her garden, often emerging from her leafy sanctuary with brown smudges across her cheeks where she had unconsciously rubbed in her many hours spent within the garden. Frequently, the young heiress could be heard receiving a scolding from one of her many maids.

"Miss, you've soiled your kimono again! What will we do with you, ruining such fine silk!" It exasperated the servants to no end, but there was nothing to be done. The lady continued wearing the fine robes to her garden, accidentally running the long sleeves through mud, letting the hem of the kimono land in a newly made puddle, until eventually many of her robes had a darkness creeping up the edge, showing the damage inflicted by her hobby.

_She's doing it again, _thought Hanabi, her critical eye noticing the hem trailing into the sand. She reached over, pulling the silk out of the dirt, shaking it of its particles. It had been a shock to find how messy her older sister had become. She remembered Hinata in years past, careful of even the smallest patch of dirt, afraid of soiling her clan robes worn out of fear of getting lectured.

And now… no sum of dirt could stifle her love for the garden, nor could any amount of scolding stop her devotion. Hinata frequently ignored the frowns etched clearly on Father's face as he caught sight of her kimono turned gray at the edge from difficult-to-remove dirt.

Which led Hanabi to something else; when had Hinata become so distant? Before she had obsessed over the most minute details, stressing to the point of passing out. Now, however, she never noticed a thing, only acknowledging things when someone pointed them out to her.

"Hinata, your sleeve's catching mud," said Hanabi, pointing out the lavender sleeve getting heavier and heavier with wet soil. Hinata's eyes followed the hand currently setting a seedling into its hole up the wrist and to the opening of the sleeve.

She looked down at the material dripping with mud, examining it as if it was a new species of plant she had yet to introduce into her garden. She then slowly extracted it from the soil, attempting to remove the mud (without much success), and then returning to the very important business of planting the seedling.

_And she's gone. That lasted a grand total of … about 3 minutes. _Internal scoffing over with, Hanabi exited the garden, not even bothering to say goodbye. Hinata wouldn't hear it anyway.

* * *

After dinner and the daily shower (in which thankfully the silver hair had followed the other inmates and gave Sasuke a wide berth) they had been led back to their respective cells, to wile away the hours until dinner. It came as no surprise that as he sat lay in his bunk staring at the bottom of the bunk on top, a guard had come stomping down the hall to deposit the silver hair inside Sasuke's own cell. At first, he had been able to stand the man having his same everything, but it was starting to annoy him slightly. He didn't remember signing up to baby-sit…

The man stepped in, the corner of his mouth still tilted up in his manic smile. He merely acknowledged Sasuke with a nod, then climbed to the top bunk. He began to creak, attempting to arrange himself in a comfortable position.

_Creak_

From his bunk, Sasuke could see he had distributed his weight to the right.

_Creak_

Now the bulk was on the left.

_Creak_

He continued in this fashion for several minutes, an occasional mutter heard from above.

"What do they make these things with, cement…?"

_Creak_

He flipped over, dangling a hand over the side of the bunk, exactly at Sasuke's eye level. Bony, pale fingers hung there for a few seconds, until the rest of the body decided this wasn't comfortable either.

_Creak_

The sounds of him flipping over, then turning to the left, lying face-down, curling into a ball, then sitting up made the loudest ruckus of all.

_For the love of god, just find a goddamn position and stick with it…_

There was a huffing sound from the top bunk, then another turn. The man had decided to rotate his body completely around on the mattress so that his head was where his feet had previously been.

This finally seemed to work. He stopped his turning, sighing as if he had found a position that worked.

_Hmm…took you long enough. _Sasuke turned his head to face the wall, hoping the familiar brown wall would bore him to sleep. It seemed to be working, as his eyes were beginning to feel heavy. Perhaps he'd be able to finish this morning's dream…

_Creak_

What the hell? Couldn't this guy just quit? Seriously, he had just started falling asleep, and now this?

"Stop it," he growled, kicking the underside of the top bunk. He heard a surprised yelp from his cellmate, then more creaking as the man flipped over to hang over the edge of the bunk.

"What was that for," he demanded, the manic smile gone, replaced by a scowl to rival Sasuke's own.

"For being a noisy idiot. I'm trying to nap, would you mind just lying down and shutting up? Or is that too hard for a man who took down an entire village by himself?"

"No… It's just these things are so uncomfortable."

Sasuke snorted. "What did you expect, mattresses filled with goose down? In case you haven't noticed, this is a prison, not the Hokage's quarters. Might as well get used to that bunk, I doubt you'll get anything softer." He turned back to face his dirty brown wall. _Now… where was I?_

"Well, at least it's a step up from hard stone floors…"

Sasuke's black eyes snapped open. He would kill to Chidori this guy into the wall. Since when had he been allowed to speak to him?

He kicked the underside of the bunk again, harder this time, more forcefully.

"What the hell is your problem? I'm not moving any more, what could you possibly be annoyed with now?" exclaimed the silver-haired man crossly.

"Stop moving. Stop making noise. It's not that difficult to understand," was Sasuke's gruff response.

"I guess they weren't lying when they said you had a temper. You're quite venomous you know, must come from when you were with Orochimaru." He said the name nonchalantly, yet it had an unnatural edge to it.

Sasuke closed his eyes, attempting to control himself. Perhaps if he ignored the guy, he would simply shut up, lie back, and sleep. _Come on, Sasuke. You're better than this. Don't let this scum get to you; you're better than that, you _know _you are. You are in control. Remember what you learned…_

"But it looks like they were wrong about one thing," the silver hair continued casually.

_Breathe. Ignore him. He's just pushing your buttons; don't let him get to you._

"The other guys told me you wouldn't hesitate to kill a guy. They were obviously wrong," the man said, finishing off with a chuckle, beginning to creak around once more.

_Just shut up…_

"See? You're weak," he said airily.

_That's it._

In a flash, he had stood up, reaching over the edge of the bunk and grabbing the man by his orange collar, pushing him roughly into the wall. He drove him further into the hard stone, cracking the wall, the man roaring beneath Sasuke's muffling hand.

He continued ramming the man into the wall, ignoring the tears of pain rolling down his face. Then he stopped, choosing to push him up against the wall by the neck, squeezing the air out of him.

The man began to make wretched, gasping sounds, his face turning steadily bluer beneath his pallor. It gave him a twisted satisfaction, taking out his frustrations on this idiot.

Then quite suddenly, Sasuke stopped, staring at his cellmate panting for breath.

He leaned in to the man's ear with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"How's that for weak?" he said in his lowest, most dangerous voice.

With a terrible sliding sound, he let the man slump down the wall, passed out from lack of air.

He then returned to his bunk, settling down for his nap.

* * *

The reflection in the mirror looked bored. No, not bored. Just… lifeless. Still and dead, without the blush that had been so common so long ago, without the worried eyes or the slender fingers poking against each other in agitation. It was a completely different person than she remembered.

At the moment, this lifeless doll was getting ready for the weekly tea party. The completely mandatory tea party that she was being forced to attend. Once a week, she attended the Hyuuga tea party, exclusively for the young Hyuuga ladies. Hanabi attended (also against her will) and Ai as well, mostly because her father would kill her if she wasn't involved.

"I hate this. I really do. Why do we have to go to this stupid tea thing? Seriously, I hate all those girls. They're so prissy, and all they talk about is which kimono is the nicest. I get tired of hearing them talk. Sometimes I just wanna punch them," Hanabi said from where she lay on the bed, pumping her flat palm into the air.

"And then they start talking about guys. 'This guy's cuter! I want to get married! I'm totally stupid and incompetent without a male!' What a load of crap. They make me ashamed of being a girl. I mean, seriously, you don't need a guy to make you better. They act as if they do," Hanabi muttered, scowling up at the ceiling.

There was silence as Hanabi glowered at the ceiling and Hinata idly wondered what would happen if she showed up to the tea without any makeup; the idea of painting her face didn't appeal to her much.

"Well," said Hanabi, springing up from the mattress, "let's get this over with."

* * *

A delicate presence walked about, tousling his hair and giggling at him while he slept. He smirked, trying to stay very still. He had a feeling that if he moved the presence would leave, taking with it the calm that filled him now. It felt good.

But now the presence was fading, the tousling became lighter and lighter until he couldn't feel it altogether, and the giggles receded, echoing strangely and then fading completely.

The pleasant aura was gone.

Sasuke was dragged back to the reality of his desolate jail cell, and the warmth that had enveloped him went away just as quickly as it had come. He scowled, wondering what had ruined his happy moment.

From peering out at the floor, he found the answer: the silver haired man. He had begun to stir, massaging the back of his head that had been forcefully drilled into the wall, moaning slightly.

Sasuke merely put his hands beneath his head, sighing at the realization that he probably wouldn't be able to call back the dream.

"That hurt, you know. You've broken my heart, cellmate. How can I expect to be able to live with you for the duration of my sentence if I have to live in fear of you pushing me into walls or something? Do you see what you've done to this wall," asked the silver hair, gesturing to the depression shaped exactly like a bony man being tormented into the stone.

Sasuke glanced out at the wall. It was true, he had damaged the stone. It had some nasty cracks in it and the shape of a body pressed into it.

He began to smirk as he admired his handiwork. Who said a man was nothing without his chakra?

"Anyway, it seems we got off to a bad start," said the silver haired man as he dusted fine stone dust from the back of his orange jumpsuit.

Sasuke merely gazed at him from his position on the bunk, wondering how the hell this guy wasn't angry. If anyone drilled him into a wall, he'd have to get away before he could murder the guy.

The silver hair walked over confidently to Sasuke, extending a hand and saying cheerily, "I'm Silver." He smiled crookedly down at his cellmate, hand still floating there waiting to be acknowledged.

Sasuke gazed at the bony, pale hand for a long time. Then, instead of shaking it, he turned to his side to face the dirty brown wall again. The faintest of murmurs escaped him.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Now get in your bunk and shut up."


	3. Trapped Pawns

A/N: Secrets are revealed! Suspicions are created! Itches are scratched! It's a chapter where things happen!

So now you know. Review away. Or leave death threats instead, those are nearly as fun.

* * *

"Why does this thing itch so much," came a quiet voice in the middle of the darkness.

"It itches because you're scratching at it," was Sasuke's terse reply.

"Does it ever stop itching?"

"No. It's always prickling. You just have to resist the urge to scratch at it."

As soon as he said it, he could feel the sensation of something crawling under his skin on the leaf shape engraved on his left forearm. It was the Konoha prisoner seal, put on the inmates to suppress their chakra. It was extremely effective in preventing outbreaks of violence within the jail. Mostly because, without their chakra, the men became much weaker, lethargic even, and it took them much time to regain anything close to the amount of strength they had when it they had come in.

It was a wonder Sasuke was able to push a man into a stone wall at all. But then again, this was the infamous Uchiha, the one who betrayed the village to join with Orochimaru. It was unknown how much stronger he had become during that period, and the regular chakra seal the village used had to be improved to suppress his strength.

Which Sasuke thought was just plain stupid. It wasn't like he would try to escape. He really didn't have anywhere to go. No village would have him. Even if Orochimaru could have him back, there was no way he would take him. He'd still be angry about his golden boy betraying him in more ways than one. And the only place he would like to be… well, he wouldn't be allowed there again. Nowhere near there. It just wouldn't be accepted, he'd made too many mistakes to be able to pick up where he had left off.

"Well," said Silver silently, "I guess that's what I'll have to do."

In the darkness of the cell, Sasuke smirked slightly. It had taken the seal a day to work its magic, but it had worked its magic in the end. Silver was now the ghost of the man he had been when he had entered, the lopsided smile replaced by a thin line, his eyes half-lidded in fatigue, speaking less and less with each hour.

Sasuke had to admit, he was enjoying his cellmate more this way. He became less and less annoying every minute.

"Sasuke," Silver murmured from his bunk.

Sasuke acknowledged the calling with silence.

"What did you do to get in here?"

More silence followed the question.

"You musta done somethin' bad. Y'know, the other guys talk about you a lot," said Silver sleepily, his words slurring together. The guy was fighting against the exhaustion that accompanied suppressed chakra. If he continued, he'd probably pass out.

"Really," Sasuke muttered, impassive.

"Mmhmm. They're always talkin' 'bout how you must be a real bad guy, to have gone on without a cellmate for so long. And how you never tell anyone what you did to get in here." He paused somewhat expectantly, as if hoping Sasuke would launch into his story.

He didn't.

"So how exactly did you get in here," he pressed, enunciating each word slowly so as to have them make sense."

There was a pause, in which Silver breathed in deeply, hoping the extra oxygen would bring him back from his sluggishness.

"I took down an entire village by myself," Sasuke said quietly. "I managed to kill their kage, took over their military forces, and held the biggest clan leader in the region hostage, demanding that they give me all their forbidden ninjutsu scrolls."

There was a pause then a weak chuckle from up above. "You forgot the part about the 7 tails."

"Oh right. I also demanded that they give me the 7 tails jinchuuriki," said Sasuke, rolling his eyes.

"Seriously though, why?" mumbled Silver, steadily losing the battle against the seal.

"Can't tell you. How can I be honest with someone when they haven't even told me the real reason they're in here themselves," said Sasuke, feeling as if he'd just made a move that threatened the safety of his opponent's Gyoku in Shogi.

There was a single chuckle from above. "Yeah… I guess… that makes sense…"

A pause in which the thin man breathed deeply.

"Well…I guess I'll have to tell you then," yawned Silver.

Sasuke waited, not all that impassive now.

"Hmm… well… I helped a man escape from this prison. Except I got caught." He gave a mirthless laugh. "There I was, being loyal and helping him escape from jail… but when it comes to betrayal… well, there's nobody better for it than Lord Orochimaru."

It was as if someone had sent a shock of lightening through him. Sasuke's eyes widened at the sound of his old master, surprised that this man could have a connection with himself, however distant. His being his cellmate had been no mistake. The village knew exactly what it was doing.

"Wait," he said, attempting to keep his voice steady. "You helped Orochimaru escape?"

There was the sound of deep breathing, then a dry,"Yep."

"_The_ Orochimaru?"

For a long time, there was no answer. Then came a wheezing cough and a raspy, "How many Orochimarus could you possibly know?"

"There's no way you could have done that," said Sasuke, his mind reeling at the idea of his master at large.

"Don't doubt my capabilities," murmured Silver.

"How did you manage it? How are you tied to Orochimaru? You can't be just _any_ of his pawns to be chosen to help him escape." He was now sitting up in his bunk, the top of his head grazing the underside of Silver's bunk.

Silver gave a weak laugh. "I guess I'm not just _any _of his pawns then, eh?" He coughed roughly, gasping for breath afterwards.

"I'm serious. I need to know your involvement with Orochimaru," growled Sasuke.

There was another cough. Then, "Listen, Uchiha, I'd love to tell you my story, but this thing's really taking it out of me…. I'll tell you… tomorrow."

"Silver," said Sasuke.

But there was nothing but silence.

"Silver," he called out a bit more forcefully.

Still silence.

He sighed and fell back on his bunk. He was dying to find out more. Unfortunately, Silver was fast asleep.

* * *

Today was a nice weather kind of day. The sun was bright, the trees seemed heavy with leaves, and the young members of the Hyuuga clan felt it. This was not the kind of day to sit around inside, pacing the wide corridors of the manor. They began to grow restless, the Hyuuga kids, and the queen of all restlessness herself decided to find a solution for it.

"We're going to the bathhouses," declared Hanabi, standing up in the middle of the group of young cousins half asleep from boredom.

Some kids stirred, the idea of a field trip to the bathhouses welcome after being confined inside the stuffy old clan home.

"We can't just decide to go to the bathhouse," said a kid with brown hair that stood up in all directions. "We need to tell the elders, get permission, or we're going to get in trouble."

"As if I give a damn," answered Hanabi. "Besides, if you don't want to come, you don't _have_ to come. But I'm going. If I stay here much longer, I think I'll have to kill myself."

A few of the cousins looked worried. Having been taught to be so obedient since the time their white eyes could see, it was difficult for them to break the rules. Hanabi was different, however. Her blatant disregard for rules was strange for a Hyuuga, and yet she managed to get away with it.

"Be ready within the hour," she called back over her shoulder as she stomped off to find her older sister. She needed to Hinata out of that garden; being around that much dirt couldn't be healthy.

When she found her older sister, she was crouched down on the floor of her garden, a bunch of flowery plants beside her.

"Hinata, we're going to the bathhouses. Wanna come?"

Hinata ignored her, choosing instead to plant another one of the plants.

"Do you wanna come?" Hanabi asked, a bit louder this time.

"No thanks."

A pause, in which Hanabi stared down at her sister. Was she crazy? It could not be more fun to stay here all day than to go to the bathhouses with everyone else.

"Hmm," murmured Hanabi. "Yeah, I think you're coming."

"But I don't really want to go," said Hinata while keeping her eyes on her work.

"Well, you see, that doesn't really matter. You're going because I said so." Her tone was quite polite, but had such a forceful air of authority that it would leave one wondering who was really the older sister in the family.

"But I don't want to," answered Hinata quietly, turning the full force of the lavender eyes that had gained an edge in the last 2 years onto her younger sister.

For a second, Hanabi was taken aback. She hated when Hinata did that. It caught her out of nowhere and she still hadn't gotten used to it.

She quickly regained her composure, however. Not even the icy coldness of those lavender eyes could stop the fireworks for long.

"I've decided you're coming. It'll do you good. Besides," she said as the thought occurred to her, "we haven't hung out together anywhere _fun_ in the longest time."

As she gave a few more pats to the already tight soil around a leafy fern, Hinata seemed to think it over. When it began to take her ridiculously long, Hanabi finally interrupted her thoughts.

"No matter how much you pat that dirt, it's not going to make me go away. Let's go," said the brown haired girl with finality.

She walked back into the house, confident that Hinata would follow. Sure enough, the soft whisper of silk could be heard trailing behind her own vigorous march.

She smiled to herself. Finally, some fun to be had.

* * *

Sasuke glared intensely at his cellmate. The guy was dragging this on much longer than necessary. Worse still, it looked like he was enjoying this more than he should.

"Are you done with your food yet?" asked Sasuke, gesturing towards the empty bowl on Silver's tray.

Silver glanced up at Sasuke with a hint of his manic smile. He scraped his spoon at the bottom of the empty bowl and stuck it in his mouth. He then shook his head, amusement dancing in his eyes. Yes, definitely enjoying this much more than he should.

Sasuke exhaled sharply through his nostrils. Since this morning, Silver had been dangling his story in front of Sasuke the way a fisherman dangled a particularly juicy worm in front of a hungry fish. It was uncanny the way this guy knew how to push his buttons after only two days.

"Stop messing around. You're done," said Sasuke, the dam of patience beginning to crack.

Silver only looked back at him with his eyes opened wide, spoon bouncing on his bottom lip. "Mmm-mmm," he muttered, shaking his metallic head. He swallowed a nonexistent bit of porridge and said, "Nah-uh. There's still a whole lot of mush left, see?" He tilted the empty bowl forward for Sasuke to see. Sasuke, however, simply pushed it aside.

"Time to speak up. You've slept, you've eaten, work doesn't begin for another 20 minutes. Talk," said Sasuke in a low voice, though the nearest convicts were twenty five feet away.

Silver cocked his head, tapping his lip in a pensive way. "You're quite an impatient one, aren't you?"

Sasuke nodded slowly.

Silver gave a single chuckle. "Guess I'm going to have to change that then."

"And exactly what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"That I have to take on the painstaking and tedious task of teaching you the importance of patience," said Silver, the corner of his mouth tilted up in his crooked smile. When Sasuke continued to glare daggers at him, he went on to say, "I'll tell it to you later. Consider it a reward for another day where you didn't kill yourself in this hellhole."

Sasuke glared at him. Silver only continued grinning cheerfully.

_And there I was thinking this guy couldn't be half bad…_

With an angry sound, Sasuke stood and made his way out the door.

* * *

The Hyuuga kids made their way merrily down the street, many of the girls skipping together, happy to be out of the stuffy old Hyuuga home. Four of them lagged behind the rest, acting as the supervision of the day.

Neji frowned down at the rest of the Hyuugas. Though he enjoyed the idea of a visit to the bathhouse as much as anyone else, he had decided that since he was the oldest one there, he still had to retain that air of superiority that the older clan members possessed. So, however much the inner-Neji was jumping for joy, outer-Neji remained stoic.

Next to him walked Hanabi, her boyish strut contrasting strongly with the meek creeping of the shy creature next to her. Ai clung to Hinata like ivy to a fence. The prospect of a trip to the bathhouse seemed to frighten her, so much that she jumped whenever a bird chirped overhead.

And of course, at the end, striding along with her mind seemingly elsewhere was Hinata, her eyes open wide as she gazed around the town. When was the last time she had walked outside? She began to rack her brains, sifting through the long list of plant names, best fertilizers, growing seasons, and completely bypassing the locked section where painful memories lay in storage. More than two years ago was the last time she'd been allowed to wander in this manner.

At the moment, the slow group in the back was discussing Neji's recent promotion to ANBU.

"This means I won't see you around all that much anymore," Hanabi was saying.

"Are you going to miss me," asked Neji, masking his curiosity behind a bored tone.

"Not particularly. Mostly I'm excited. Now I'll have one less person nagging me," said Hanabi.

"Y-you don't r-really mean th-that, d-do you?" Ai could never understand the playfulness of the cousins.

Hanabi twisted her head to look at her, frowning slightly. "No, I kinda sorta do."

Ai seemed shocked. "Oh," she said uncomfortably.

Hinata seemed to come out of her eternal reverie to save the poor girl. She leaned in to her ear and whispered, "No Ai, she's just messing around. She'll probably miss Neji very much. She's just saying that to seem tough."

This seemed to fix Ai's problem. She relaxed her vulture-like grip on Hinata's arm and smiled slightly.

After the short walk through a bustling Konoha, they reached the bathhouse. It was like any other bathhouse, split into a section for men and a section for women. The boys and girls said goodbye and went to their respective sides.

As they were preparing to get in, Ai noticed a strange scar on Hinata's pale stomach.

Before she could stop herself, she asked how she'd gotten that.

Hinata smiled softly and said, "It's a long story."


	4. Silver

A/N: Finally, Silver's secret is revealed! How is he tied with Orochimaru? Is he as sexy as I think he is, or am I just crazy? Why is he suddenly talking so damn much?

Find out right now on today's earth-shattering chapter of _Oro's Jail!_  


* * *

The cavernous room smelled foul. It reeked of rusted blood, sweat, and the overpowering stench of defeat that accompanied men who had lost everything. It radiated from every chakra induced crack in the thick stone that surrounded the prisoners and was more noticeable with every despairing moan and groan that rumbled out of dry throats. Manacles weren't necessary here; the wardens made sure that misery stopped the men from saving themselves.

It was in this desolation that Silver found himself, arms crossed across his lean chest, glaring stubbornly into the darkness. Here, in his little corner of the cavern, the misery fought hard to enter. Silver wouldn't let it in. Inside his mind, his being trapped in Orochimaru's multi-prisoner cell was only a temporary situation; he'd find a way out just like he'd found a way in.

As he sat there pouting about the circumstances he found himself in, he began to think back to how he had gotten himself trapped in this bleak place in the first place. In retrospective, it didn't seem all too smart; breaking into a high-security lair by one's lonesome and expecting to get out unscathed and with a weak body in tow was almost comical. It would have been more comical if he hadn't been caught by the gray haired bespectacled assistant and thrown into the cell like so much discarded trash. That had been what he'd hated the most. The least they could do was treat him more respectfully. After all, how many guys could say they'd broken into Orochimaru's lair? But apparently, nothing impressed the likes of Orochimaru. The man had seen it all.

And now he was locked up like some common criminal. This upset him. He was not some common criminal. He was a criminal of the uncommon persuasion. He specialized in breaking _into_ prisons, not breaking _out._ Mostly because he'd never really been put into prison. Usually, he was hired by other rogue ninja who needed team members out of their jail cells.Though, he figured, the principles of breaking out were pretty much the same.

Now he faced this new challenge; breaking out. Forget the job he'd been sent to do. It was clear that there was no guarantee of getting out, let alone finding the high-security cell, breaking through the set obstacles, and escaping with the heavy body over his shoulder without being noticed by the prison guards. No, now his focus had switched over to himself. Rogue ninjas like him only cared enough to save their skin, so he felt very little remorse for the man awaiting salvation inside his closet of a cell.

Silver peeled his eyes, attempting to see through the ever-present gloom that kept men from seeing each other. If he tried hard enough, he could almost discern shapes through the darkness. But it was more painful to try and such a waste of time too. It's not as if any of those men could help him out anyway.

He decided to stand up and try to walk around. He laid his hand on the grimy stone wall, sweeping his hand along it for support as he made his way around the large room. The wall was rough and jagged in places, scraping his skin. It was so gloomy and dark that he'd often bump into the men sitting around on the floor. They would let out a moan and he'd mumble an apology.

However, no matter how much he walked, the stone never seemed to end. It continued on and on, without a single break in the stone, and no signs of bars or doors.

_What the…? How do they put men in here if there is no entrance?_

He thought back to how he had been dumped there. A quick racking of his brains produced no memory of ever having come through any doors. He remembered falling, seeing two faces, one of Orochimaru and another he didn't recognize, peering down at him from what seemed like very high up. Their lips had moved, but the words had been distorted, and before he could concentrate on the sound, he had blacked out. Eventually, he'd woken up here, surrounded by grime, prisoners, and solid rock.

He crouched down and searched with his hands for a person. Eventually he found one, a jittery man with skin like leather.

"Hey," he whispered, tapping the man's shoulder.

"Do-don't hurt me," said the man, cringing away from Silver.

"No, no. I just want to ask a question. Where's the door here?"

"Up th-there," stuttered the man. There was a whoosh of air as the man flipped his arm up to point toward the ceiling.

"How the hell is the door _up there_?"

"On a platform," the man said.

"Oh. Of course." How hadn't he thought of that?

_So the door's up there._ In all his wall feeling, he hadn't come upon a single ladder, or any indentations in the rock that could allow him to climb. Did they just throw the men down here?

He supposed so. It would explain the giant bruise on his left side.

_There must be a weakness…_Pressing his hands against the stone, he attempted to channel his chakra through the rock.

Nothing. It was almost as if he had no chakra at all.

He slid down the rock, folding his arms back across his chest. He didn't like this one bit. There was no way he could get out of here, he was sure of it now.

How he hated Orochimaru.

* * *

"Kabuto," said the hissing voice.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru?" The assistant was currently bent over the Lord's medicines.

"That one we caught earlier today, the one with the silver hair. How did he get in?" He said it casually, but there was an inquisitiveness that even the smooth Orochimaru could not disguise.

"I have no idea, my lord. I'm guessing our guards weren't paying close attention…or he's just very good at what he does."

"No. Our guards must have not been paying attention. Nobody could just waltz in here the way that one did," muttered Lord Orochimaru.

"I suppose they can't," Kabuto said, peering down at the many bottles before him.

"Could it be that the lair has a weak spot? Like a blind spot, that we think we can see, but we really can't?" asked Lord Orochimaru, tone slightly worried.

"I wouldn't preoccupy myself with thoughts like those, Lord Orochimaru. You know as well as I that there is not a single place in the entire lair where one rock meets another. I oversaw the construction, and there was not a single spot that was overlooked, I can assure you. Most likely, the guards were negligent," answered Kabuto as he raised a glass of red liquid to eyelevel, shaking it slightly.

This seemed to appease Orochimaru. He lay back down on his pillows, shifting his head to get more comfortable. For a while he laid there, eyes closed and hands clasped together on his torso as if in death. Then, quite suddenly, his eyes opened and he shot up.

"If one young brat can get himself in here, what's to say the Leaf won't be able to? And if this kid could get in, what's to say he won't be able to get out and tell the world where we are? And perhaps he was sent to get caught and gather information from inside and then escape again… Kabuto, bring him to me immediately," Orochimaru demanded.

"Lord Orochimaru, you're overthinking this. He's just some kid. It's one thing to infiltrate the prison, but it's a wholly other thing to break _out_ of it. Chakra repellant doors, reinforced hinges, an entire layer of chakra coating every wall, floor, and ceiling in the place maintained constantly by teams that work around the clock. He's not a threat," Kabuto reassured him. He had finally turning around to face his master, and was now eyeing him analytically.

"You know Kabuto; it starts with ignoring possible threats. Then, you begin to get lazy and ignore everything coming in and out of the lair. Your subordinates see how lax security gets and decide to go along with it and neglect their jobs a bit. Eventually they leave, because who wants to work for a master that doesn't care about his fortress? Nobody. They leave, the prisoners manage to escape, and we're in a load of trouble. All because you overlooked something," said Orochimaru, his bony face illuminated by the dim candle at his bedside. "Now," he continued, "do you want this to happen, Kabuto?"

"Well… no."

"Then bring me the boy."

"As you wish sir."

Grudgingly, Kabuto walked off to do his master's bidding.

* * *

"You know, I should've just become a fisherman. Yes, a simple fisherman. Those men have everything," Silver said, turning towards the man with the leathery skin. He was staring at Silver as if he was some sort of man-eater, his eyes wide and his body pushed as far away from his as the limited space allowed.

"I mean seriously," Silver continued. "They wake up by the sea every day, their wife cooks them a nice meal before work, then they go out to fish. They fish a bit, bring their catch back in, sell it, done. There's no danger of getting locked up in some snake's lair. There's no running from every government on the face of the planet because they're all out to get the prison infiltrate-artist. There's no having to sleep on dirty stone floors, never knowing when your next meal will be. None of that."

He turned to his companion. "You know exactly what I mean, don't you? Wouldn't it have been great to have been a fisherman? They've got it all. Only rogues like you and me get in here, eh?" Silver grinned and gave the wide-eyed man a playful shove that nearly sent him tumbling.

"Um… well, actually-," stuttered the man. Silver cut him off.

"You know exactly what I mean," he said, nodding slightly. "So… what'd you do to get in here?" He looked at the old man expectantly.

The old man stared back at him. "I was fishing when Lord Orochimaru took me prisoner."

Silver raised his eyebrows. "Never mind then…"

There was a creak of a door opening from overhead. All the men squinted their eyes against the bright light. After his eyes had adjusted to the brightness, Silver looked up, wondering what the hell was going on.

The light was suddenly blocked by a body, and then another, the second one gliding in like a snake.

"Gentlemen," said an unctuous voice coming from the second body. A mutter went through the crowd of prisoners. "Lord Orochimaru," mumbled a nearby one-armed man, awed.

"We're looking for the man caught earlier today. Young, lively thing, with silver hair and a strange tattoo on his face," Orochimaru said silkily.

The prisoners turned their drooping eyes in the direction of Silver, who continued to glare up at the platform where Orochimaru stood.

"Ah," said Orochimaru softly, his slit-like eyes turned towards the infiltrator. "There you are. Bring him," he ordered Kabuto.

Before he knew what was going on, Silver had been dragged upward and through the door as if by a pair of invisible hands, and the same hands wrapped themselves around his wrists to keep them together and behind his back. Then, as if something had possessed his body, his feet were now shuffling along behind the gray haired man in front of him, turning corners at the end of hallways and navigating their way through narrow corridors. He tried to keep up with the turns, but they were so complex and so frequent that he gave up. As if it wasn't hard enough to try to remember the turns, he was still fighting against the ninjutsu that was controlling his footsteps, and at times felt as if he was about to slam face-first into the ground.

Eventually, panting and sweating from exertion, he arrived at a noncommittal looking door at the end of the labyrinth. He was lead through the doorway into a room much darker than the hallway outside of it. Kabuto retreated into the shadows in the corner. Here, the only light came from a flickering orange candle on a stand, and Silver's eyes again had to adjust to the change in light.

At first glance, it had looked as if the room was empty. But as he grew accustomed to the limited light, he began to notice a simple stool at the foot of a futon whose sheets covered a skeletal body. Orochimaru. He lay there, face gaunt, thrown into sharper relief due to the candlelight. It was eerie, and there was a strange odor inside the chamber as well. It smelled like… decay.

"So you're the young one who managed to infiltrate our prison today," said Lord Orochimaru slowly.

Silver gave a single nod, his panting slowly dissipating.

For a long while, Orochimaru didn't say anything, just continued to stare curiously at his newly caught prisoner.

"You know, I'm impressed," he began. Despite his unctuous tone, he sounded like he meant it.

Silver only raised an eyebrow.

"Please, sit down," said Lord Orochimaru, gesturing towards the stool at the end of his futon.

"I can't," said Silver gruffly.

"Why not," questioned Orochimaru, clearly confused.

"Because I'm sort of not in control of my body at the moment. Perhaps you'd like to call back later," said Silver sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

As soon as these words were out of his mouth, a terrible pain shot through him. He fell to the ground and writhed in agony.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru's sardonic grin grew wider, and his eyes danced in the candlelight, excited.

"I won't stand your insolence, boy," he said it calmly, but there was a hard edge to his words.

"Now," said Orochimaru, standing up in a single motion. He glided over to his prisoner, eying him like a serpent eyes a particularly large mouse.

"It seems as if you don't know who I am," said Orochimaru, getting closer and closer to Silver, and the force that possessed him forced him to move backwards.

"I'm Lord Orochimaru, one of the great Sannin and previously a member of the organization Akatsuki. Didn't your mommy and daddy ever teach you to respect those more powerful than you," he hissed, poking a finger into Silver's forehead ever so slightly. But that little push was all it took to send Silver tumbling backwards onto the stool.

He now leaned in closely, so close that Silver could feel his arid breath on his skin.

"I don't call back later for anybody," assured Orochimaru, mocking smile gone. "Especially not for some young punk like you." As soon as he said "you", another sharp pain shot through Silver, shocking his bones and tearing through his skin. He squirmed on the chair, grinding his teeth to hold back his screams of pain.

Satisfied, Lord Orochimaru stood up again, sardonic smile back in place, gazing at his prey with his head cocked slightly to the right.

"Like I said before, I'm impressed. And it's not often that things impress me," said Orochimaru.

"Really, I had heard of escape artists… but never infiltrate artists. That's a new twist, isn't it?"

He began to pace around the room, forcing Silver to follow him with just his eyes.

"Not only that. But you managed to infiltrate a lair that's protected 24/7 to the most advanced techniques known to shinobi… and even some that are not," he added.

Silver continued following him with narrowed eyes when quite abruptly, he stopped pacing.

"How did you do it," Orochimaru asked, smiling slightly.

Silver said nothing. Orochimaru chuckled.

"Perhaps that's not important," mused Orochimaru. "Perhaps what's more important is… for who did you do it?" He was no longer chuckling, but looking at Silver intently.

Silver looked intently back. He grinned as he said, "Because I'm really going to tell you that. I may be young, Oro, but I wasn't born yesterday. I'm very far from stupid."

Orochimaru gave a chuckle, seeming completely unsurprised by his captive's answer.

"It appears that you are not as far from stupid as you believe. You see, I run this place. And unless I give the word, there is no way that you are ever leaving here. So perhaps you should tell me everything, or you may find your time here very unpleasant."

Silver smiled crookedly.

"Oh, but I don't need you to give the word. I can break out of here myself, thank you very much," contradicted Silver calmly. "Though I do appreciate the offer," he added.

"I really don't have time for this, Silver," chided Orochimaru, crossing his arms. "I'd like to know who sent you, for what purpose, and how exactly you got in.

"Yes, and I'd like to know exactly what kind of powder you buy to get your face so pale and gaunt looking; I have trouble finding the right kind, see, my cheekbones don't stick out enough? But I don't think you're going to tell me that. Oro, we don't always get what we want. Didn't your mommy and daddy ever teach you _that_?"

He smiled, even though he knew that he'd gone too far. Now there really was no way of getting out of here. But he was totally ok with it. Better than being treated like some little kid by an animated corpse.

Orochimaru just stood there, arms still crossed across his chest.

"Fine," he said crossly. "We can just throw you back in until you're ready to share with us."

"Kabuto," he called, still glaring at Silver. Kabuto materialized from the shadows.

"Take him back. I've had enough of this today."

Silver could feel the invisible bonds pulling him towards the door. He resisted against them, grinning crookedly at Orochimaru.

"How is it that the great and powerful Orochimaru is living like a mole?" asked Silver, eyes bright and excited.

Orochimaru merely continued scowling at him.

"You must not be as great as you say. Buried deeper than most corpses, you are," Silver grunted, still fighting against his bonds.

He laughed as his invisible bonds drew him away.

* * *

Orochimaru had not been kidding when he'd said he'd persist in trying to get information out of Silver.

For several days, he continued, at first being patient with his prisoner. After that first day, he attempted to control himself better, forcing himself to keep his calm demeanor and vague smile in place as he interrogated Silver.

But Silver refused to answer his questions.

So Orochimaru had to tweak his methods. He decided to go with the tried and true method of mind games.

But Silver never fell for his tricks.

Eventually, after several weeks of trying, Orochimaru began to lose his patience.

"You've got to talk sometime," he murmured as he paced around a Silver entangled in strange wires. Silver eyed him warily.

"What the hell is this," he asked, wriggling slightly in his wired chair.

Orochimaru shrugged. "A little contraption I came up with. Puts you in something similar to a genjutsu," he said carelessly.

Silver continued following him, his eyes angry and with a hint of panic that no amount of bravado could conceal.

"This can't be ethical," he told Orochimaru, feigning casual annoyance.

"And when have I ever cared about what's ethical and what isn't?" Orochimaru answered tersely.

He glanced at Silver for a second, and then he flipped the switch.

For the next 24 hours, Silver was locked in a world so unusual, so unreal, so cruel and painful that by the time he was finally pulled back into reality, he was exhausted.

He panted heavily, glaring at Orochimaru, who stood with the same indifferent expression on his face as he had 24 hours ago.

"Glad to have you back, Silver. For your information, that lasted exactly one second."

Silver was not surprised. He managed a humorless grin.

"You're evil," he said dryly.

Orochimaru gave a wry smile. "So I've been told."

"Now," said Orochimaru ominously, "would you like to tell me who sent you?"

Silver gave a tiny shake of his head, still out of breath.

"Then prepare for another 24 hours," Orochimaru said quietly, making for the switch.

* * *

"And that continued for…roughly 10 days," murmured Silver, eyes staring blankly at the opposite wall.

Sasuke glanced at Silver briefly, then continued idly spinning the bottle cap he'd managed to sneak from the dinner table last night. He waited for him to continue.

"Eventually Orochimaru got tired of it. I wouldn't talk. Nothing he did could make me talk; not the kind interrogations, not the mind games he plays, not even the torture he executed," he said with a slight shudder as he remembered.

"So he gave up, deciding I wasn't much of a threat as nobody had come to look for me in all the time I'd been there. He threw me into different cells as time went on, each one getting worse and worse until finally I ended up in one of the deepest cells with men," he smiled bitterly, "sorry, _skeletons, _that had probably been down there for years. It was the dirtiest cell I'd been in so far. It smelled like rot and was completely filthy… and it wasn't filthy because of dirt," he grimaced.

"We got food every once in a while. That guy… he's got torture down to a science. He knew exactly how much to feed us and how often to keep us just barely alive. No. Not alive. Existing. He knew how to keep people existing."

"I don't know how long I was down there," Silver said quietly, his eyes dead, the fire that Sasuke had previously witnessed gone. "At first I thought it was a temporary thing, that I'd either be brought out for questioning again or I'd find a way out. I would try to talk to the other men in there, keep my spirits up, you know? But they just stared at me with their bulging eyes like I was nuts. At one point I actually started to go crazy, without anyone to talk to, and I just started saying out loud, to nobody in particular that I had already found a way out of there, that I was safely outside in the sun, by a pool of crystal clear water and all the food I could ever want. That's when one of them finally said something."

"'You're never getting out of here,' he said. And that's when I stopped trying, because I realized that what he was saying was true. There was no way I was ever getting out of there," Silver said dully.

"Eventually, I just lay there, too weak to move. Whenever I thought about anything, it was about food. It wasn't even getting out of there anymore, just about food. Whenever I'd sleep, I'd dream about food. I conserved my energy for when the food came. Even then I got a tiny scrap of some maggoty trash. It was never enough to feel good, but enough to keep me alive."

"So much time passed. One day I realized that I was probably exactly how the other men had looked to me when I had arrived there; a skeleton, almost no longer alive, laying there waiting for my body to finally give up its losing fight. I no longer knew when was day, when was night, how much time passed, if months had gone by or years. Eventually I stopped eating altogether."

"Around that time, the door opened. I didn't pay any attention to it anymore, since I was trying to kill myself I was pretending that there was no food and there never would be food. Which means that I tried to pretend that nobody ever opened that door, of course. But this time was different, because instead of just tossing the food like they usually did, someone walked through the door and stood on the platform, looking over the edge into the pit. As if in a dream I remember a voice saying, from very far away, 'Where's Silver?' And I vaguely remember raising a single finger."

"And then it was black," Silver said impassively. "And I remember waking up again, and I was lying in the softest bed I'd ever been in, surrounded by tubes stuck everywhere in my body. I looked down at myself for the first time in years and practically fainted from what I saw."

He suddenly turned silent and Sasuke had to press him further.

"What did you see?"

"My skin was see-through. I could see my veins and the blood pumping through my arteries. And my bones. There was no muscle left. I brought new meaning to the term 'skin and bones'," he chuckled humorlessly.

"But I was clean. Pale and corpse-like, but I could smell soap on me. And for the first time in a very long time, I wasn't hungry. And I could see, even though my eyes were unused to seeing and I had to squint through even the dimmest light of the machines around my bed."

"Had this been where they'd put me in the beginning, I would have escaped like that," he said, snapping his fingers. "But there, I couldn't even consider escaping. I was too weak. It took all my strength to stay awake just a few seconds to check out my surroundings."

Silver smiled slightly. "I fell asleep immediately after. Best sleep I'd had in years."

"Slightly ruined when I woke up, though. Kabuto was there, messing with the machines and checking me over to make sure I wasn't dying. I asked him how long I'd been in the cell. He said 2 years, 9 months. He said it was a shame that I was so sickly and weak. He started bragging about how his medical skill had been what saved me from death."

"As if he hadn't also been the one who put me in that condition in the first place," he said sourly.

"After a few weeks of lying in that bed, I start getting some color, feeling better and such. Eventually, I was well enough to leave the room, but only in a wheelchair. It was at that time that Kabuto told me what had brought about the sudden change of heart."

He paused for a second as if knowing that this would be the part that interested Sasuke most.

"Apparently, Orochimaru had been caught by the Leaf during one of his many illicit activities. He was put into the Konoha jail, which, as you can imagine gave me much pleasure. Finally, a taste of his own medicine, though this one was cherry flavored… what he gave _his _prisoners tasted like shit. Anyway, Kabuto had managed to escape, abandoning his master at the time of capture." Silver snorted. "They are so good at loyalty…"

"Of course, I had never suspected they'd let me out of the dungeon just cause they felt it was the right thing to do. No, obviously they would want something from me. Kabuto wanted me to break out his man. What was in it for me? Freedom. They'd only give it to me if I gave them something in return. They no longer cared about who sent me, but I had a service that they required. I was finally of use to them."

"Kabuto knew I could get into a jail with ease. He knew I had the skills. But as he told me what he wanted me to do, I started laughing. 'Because I'm totally in the physical condition necessary to break men out of prison,' I told him. Ridiculous that he'd believe that I'd be able to do that after my body had practically eaten itself alive from lack of food."

"He told me that obviously we weren't going to do it right away. First he'd bring me back to the level of strength I was at before… within a year. This made me laugh harder. 'It took me nearly three years to get this way, and you expect to bring me back fully in a single year? You're delusional.'"

"He just smiled at me and told me that I was the delusional one for thinking he'd do it by conventional methods. I mentally did a face-palm. Clearly, he was willing to break the laws of nature to get what he wanted," he said, an angry edge to his voice.

"And so it began, my regeneration. I imagined that nothing could be as terrible as being trapped in that black hole that they called a cell. I was wrong," Silver said quietly. For the first time, he looked Sasuke straight in the eyes. There was unmistakable fear in his purple pupils, and it seemed as if inside his mind he was reliving those moments. "Pain like I'd never experienced... it felt as if my skin was being pulled from my bones, as if every bit of tissue inside me was being sliced over and over, as if my very soul was being ripped from my body. It felt like I was being pulled apart everywhere, reduced to the most fundamental bits of life. Which is funny, because after it was all over, Kabuto told me I wasn't being torn apart, but built up. It felt the other way around."

"It lasted for a year. When it stopped, I wondered if I'd died and gone to heaven. My body felt…perfect. I had muscles spread tightly over my bones, and my skin was there, pale, translucent, and very much alive. It was like being born again."

"And there was Kabuto, smiling stupidly as always, acting like I hadn't just gone through hell by his hands. 'Now you're ready,' he said. 'Your body is perfect, and we will soon rescue Orochimaru. And then… then you can have your freedom.'"

"We set out for Konoha," Silver continued monotonously, the blank stare back in place. "We got here, easily entered the village, easily infiltrated the prison. Found Oro's cell, started breaking him out." He smiled wryly. "Let me tell you, Konoha doesn't notice a thing when you break in…but they sure as hell notice when you break out."

"We were almost done. We weren't worried about being discreet about it; Kabuto just wanted Orochimaru out and didn't care if the Leaf knew it. So basically we decided to break straight through the wall. As soon as it was tumbling down, the guards came out. Unfortunately for me, I got distracted by them rushing towards us, and the wall came down on me. By that time, Oro was already out. I yelled for them to help me out… but they just laughed and Oro said,'I thought you said you could break out yourself.' I can't believe he actually remembered that far back, more than three years back. I knew then that they were going to leave me there. They rushed off, still laughing as the stone continued to crush me."

"So, the guards caught me a few days back and stuck me here with you. And _that_ is how I'm tied to Orochimaru," said Silver, finishing his recount bitterly.

Sasuke was still spinning his bottle cap, watching its path pensively. After a while, he cleared his throat.

"Well…that's certainly an interesting story," he said quietly. He abandoned his makeshift top.

"Sorry to hear you had such a bad time of it with Orochimaru. Can't say I had it great… but, judging by your story, I was living well in the Sound."

Silver raised an eyebrow. "It's good to know somebody was…"

They were silent for a while more, Sasuke thinking over everything Silver had told him.

Then, Silver said, "Now will you tell me what you did to get in here?"

Sasuke turned to look at him, his face expressionless.

"I'm curious to know," Silver elaborated. "I know you were with Orochimaru. At the time when I first got there, the men in the first cell spoke of you sometimes. And during the early interrogations, Oro and Kabuto would mention you too. Just casually, you know, but often. I'm very curious to know how you got to be in here."

He sounded sincerely curious.

Sasuke glanced at him. He resumed the spinning of his bottle cap.

"It's sort of a long story," he said quietly.

Silver gave a chuckle. "I have no plans for tomorrow evening. In fact… I may be here for a while."

"Hmm," muttered Sasuke. "I guess I'll tell you then…later. But don't say I didn't warn you. It _will_ be long."

Silver grinned and said, "No problem."


	5. The Beginning

A/N: Some sort of excuse for a plot is finally revealed! Sasuke's afraid to visit the optometrist! But then finds out he doesn't have to! Medicine is tampered with, along with the laws of nature!

Find out all about it right now on today's optometrically incorrect chapter of _Oro's Jail!_

* * *

It wasn't his favorite thing to do. It didn't feel good to him, to have to play second after being number one for so long. He was playing second, he had admitted it to himself, playing second to a teenage boy who didn't care nearly as much as he did, who would only give himself up to if it meant gaining power, gaining revenge. But he would never do it just because he wanted to. He would never do it willingly, without seeking anything in return. He wouldn't.

_I on the other hand…I would. _He gripped the medicine bottle more tightly and paused just before opening the door at the end of the hallway. The bespectacled man pressed his ear to the door briefly. Nothing. Composing his frown into his trademark complacent smile, he opened the door.

He walked into the room. It was pitch black; the only light came from the slightly open door behind him, and even that light seemed to be swallowed up quickly, as if the room was nothing more than a black hole. It certainly felt that way.

"I have your medicine," said the gray haired young man as he lit the single candle on the nightstand. It threw a dim glowing circle of light towards the futon and the sheets on top of it.

"Mmmmm," mumbled the sheets. They made no effort to get up.

"You have to take this, Sasuke. Lord Orochimaru wants to speak with you. You can't be in this state when you meet with him," said the gray haired man worriedly.

"Hmph," muttered Sasuke inside of his cocoon. He sat up slowly. His glare appeared deadly in the limited light of the candle. "You're only saying that because it'll look bad for you if Orochimaru sees me ill. And you couldn't have the master be upset with you," said Sasuke. He paused. "That's quite selfish of you Kabuto."

Kabuto winced, yet continued smiling. "Me? Selfish? You must have me confused with someone else, Sasuke. Perhaps… yourself? I've never met anyone so intent on achieving their own purposes without regard to what their superiors may desire."

Sasuke stood up and walked to the chair where his clothes were laid out for him. With his back to Kabuto, he began dressing. Once he was finished, he turned around to face Kabuto.

"That's a lie," he told the older man simply.

"Oh really," said Kabuto, surprised.

"Yes, really," said Sasuke. "There is, perhaps, one other who did the same, and even on a greater scale."

"And who would that be, I wonder?"

Sasuke jerked his head in the direction of the room down the hall.

"Who else? Honestly Kabuto, I thought you were smarter than that. Isn't it obvious? Going against everything his home village believed in: abducting innocent people to experiment on them, joining a sinister secret organization, and even inside the secret organization he went against his leader's principles. Why else would Akatsuki kick the guy out? Surely this man sounds familiar to you," finished Sasuke coolly.

"Hmm," murmured Kabuto, extending the bottle of medicine to Sasuke. The Uchiha took it, and set it down on the nightstand.

"I won't be needing it. I'm feeling much better," said Sasuke quietly.

As if he didn't know the stuff Kabuto put in his medicine.

* * *

"You called for me," Sasuke said as he stood in the doorway.

From within the dark confines of the room, a voice hissed, "Yes. Come in."

Sasuke walked in, followed by the smiling Kabuto. This room too was lit by a single candle on the nightstand. Propped up on the futon sat Orochimaru, pale and sickly looking as ever. The minimal lighting made the shadows on his face especially dark and deep, hollowing out his cheeks and eyes in ways that gave him the appearance of death. The appearance, however, was misleading, as Orochimaru was the farthest anyone could ever be from death. The guy refused to die, after all.

There was no offering of chairs in Orochimaru's chamber. He continued sitting on his futon, smiling ever so slightly, watching Sasuke standing before him. The moments dragged.

"You seem much better Sasuke," he finally said. "I assume Kabuto's medicine worked well on you." He gave a small nod in the direction of Kabuto.

"Actually," said Sasuke, turning to look at Kabuto briefly before facing the lord, "I got better _after_ I stopped taking the medicine. It must have been the wrong one I guess…"

Orochimaru turned to Kabuto questioningly. "Is this true Kabuto?"

Kabuto shifted uncomfortably. "Well… I suppose he did get better when he refused to take the medicine…" It wasn't a good idea to lie to Orochimaru.

"Hmm," said Orochimaru. "Well, either way, it appears you're better. And that's what's important here."

Sasuke glared at Orochimaru. Couldn't this guy see that Kabuto had intentionally been giving him the wrong medicine? Had he continued to take it, he probably would be dead. Surely this would warrant his death. But no… this was Kabuto they were talking about. Orochimaru's right hand man was the most protected in the world.

"What did you call me for, Orochimaru?" asked Sasuke with a sigh. Orochimaru had a habit of never getting to the point, and it had begun to wear on his nerves after some time.

Orochimaru chuckled slightly. "Oh, you're so eager Sasuke. I'll be getting to that." He continued sitting on his futon, smiling away at the two men before him. Sasuke crossed his arms impatiently and exhaled sharply.

"I should be training, you know," he said pointedly.

"Well then, I guess I should begin," said Orochimaru. He sat up straighter in his futon and began.

"I seek power, Sasuke," said Orochimaru. "I seek power, and a lot of it. As you very well know, my desire is to learn every jutsu there is. Knowing every jutsu there is would make me the most powerful ninja there is."

Sasuke said nothing. He continued to stand with is arms crossed, waiting for the lord to elaborate. _Can't he just get to the point?_

After what seemed like forever, Orochimaru finally spoke again. "An important part of jutsu is kekkai genkai. One particular kekkai genkai has caught my eye," said Orochimaru with a chuckle. "Caught my eye indeed…"

He left Sasuke to ponder this statement as he took a sip of tea from a cup that Kabuto had prepared in the long moments of silence.

"Eye kekkai genkai seem so interesting," said Orochimaru in his hissing voice.

Sasuke's eyes widened. He couldn't honestly mean he wanted his eyes. Not now. He hadn't gotten revenge yet, he thought he would have plenty of time. What a way of ruining his plans, he should have seen this coming.

"And as much as we love playing in the lab, it's impossible to create kekkai genkai artificially. We've tried it, you know," said Orochimaru, taking another sip of his tea.

Sasuke had tensed. His muscles had bunched themselves up as Orochimaru spoke, and it was almost painful the way his crossed arms were clenched so tightly. He uncrossed them now, trembling slightly from the effort and the idea that Orochimaru might be taking his eyes. _Not now… not yet…_

Orochimaru stared at Sasuke with overexcited eyes glinting brightly.

"There is one particular kekkai genkai that I remember from my days in Konoha," he said. He tilted his head slightly as if to remember better. Sasuke stiffened. Why was he dragging it out so long? If he would have to fight to keep his eyes, he was willing to do it but he hated waiting. He was practically done with Orochimaru anyway, why waste his time listening?

"It was the kekkai genkai from a thriving clan," said Orochimaru. _Now he has to insult my nearly extinct clan…I'm going to kill him._ He could already feel the Sharingan of said clan spinning dangerously and his chakra beginning to circulate much faster.

"I remember thinking how blank it looked," said Orochimaru dreamily, oblivious to the lethal spinning of his subordinate's red and black eyes. Red and black eyes that suddenly stopped spinning and melted back into ebony. _Blank? The Sharingan isn't blank…_

"Yes, they seemed so blank, those all seeing eyes, almost like the eyes of a blind man. No pupils, no color, no nothing, yet I remember how well the Hyuuga clan wielded those eyes." Orochimaru finished his internal flashback.

"Something wrong, Sasuke?" asked Orochimaru, having noticed Sasuke staring at him murderously. _Now I have no reason to kill him…_

"No, I'm fine," said Sasuke, running his hand through his bangs.

"Good. I was afraid you had fallen sick again. In which case you would be of no use to me… not at all helpful to the mission I have prepared for you," said Orochimaru, smiling crookedly. For several minutes, he continued sitting in this way, seeming to enjoy the irritation he was causing Sasuke. It was clearly displayed on his face, in the crease between his brows, and the set of his mouth. After some time of silence in which Orochimaru continued to look amused and Sasuke got more and more irritated by the second, the able ninja turned and walked towards the door.

"If that's all you're going to say, then I'm off to train," growled Sasuke. He hated when the old snake dragged things along this way.

Behind him, a hiss of, "Sasuke. Wait." Sasuke smirked. Such a wonderful way to set things in motion. Threatening to leave. It had definitely set the Leaf Village ablaze.

Sasuke turned around, saying, "Make it quick. I've got training to do."

Orochimaru shook his head. "There's no time. I want this mission completed as soon as possible."

He waited till Sasuke had walked back into the circle of light where he was visible.

"I want the Hyuuga eyes. My eyes are nothing special. I want to make them special. This is where you come in. I'm sending you to Konoha to fetch my new eyes." He finished happily.

Sasuke leaned forward, forcing Orochimaru to lean back, hitting the back of his head against the stone wall. "Isn't this a job usually reserved for your lesser pawns? Why exactly are you sending me?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"You know your way around Konoha. This should make it easier for you to get in and out quickly. You are familiar with the eyes I speak of. And I can't just send anyone to obtain something as special as _my_ eyes." He paused. "Besides. None of my minions could stand up to a Hyuuga… alone."

"Alone?"

"Yes, alone. You're going alone. Less inconspicuous, you understand," said Orochimaru with a shrug of his bony shoulders.

"You seem to have forgotten something of importance," said Sasuke calmly.

"And what would that be?"

"I betrayed that village. They sent people after me, as if I was something special. I was the sole survivor the Uchiha clan, the only kid in town with spinning red eyes. You think they won't notice when I just go waltzing right in like I own the place? They know me, Oro. You would think a brilliant mastermind such as yourself would have figured this out," said Sasuke acidly.

"Don't doubt me Sasuke," said Orochimaru coldly. "I know all that. I'm the one who helped you betray the village, don't you remember? And I wouldn't send you in if I didn't know you were the right person for the job. What kind of brilliant mastermind do you think I am?" The crooked smile was in place once more.

"Besides, it's not like you're afraid of going alone, are you?" said a voice from the shadows. Kabuto brought himself into the candlelight again.

Sasuke glared daggers at him. How he longed to kill the guy…

"You'll be going after a member of the Hyuuga clan. But not just any member. A member from the main family, their kekkai genkai is said to be the strongest, stronger than the branch family."

Sasuke disagreed. "The kekkai genkai runs strongest in Hyuuga Neji. I believe he's from the branch family," he said, surprised that he even knew this information. Konoha facts had rubbed off on him in his years there.

Orochimaru shook his head, saying, "I'm not taking any chances with my eyes. I want main family eyes, Sasuke. I'll know if you bring me anything less."

"Fine." It's not like they were his own eyes, after all.

"Bring them back safely."

"I will."

With those as his parting words, the Sasuke was on his way to the Leaf.


	6. The Kidnapping

A/N: Here's a tip: never brag about your pedigree. Never brag about anything you've got. Even if you've got a whole ton of crap, act as if you've got nothing. It's useful in life.

Also, is this craptastic thing so craptastic that it doesn't even deserve broiling? Everyone around here is much too kind.

* * *

The sun was setting as Sasuke stepped on Konohagakure soil. The journey had been unusually easy. All the precautions he had taken to avoid detection through the lands were wasted; he was as ignored as the shadows stretching longer and longer as the day wore on. He had eaten very little, his stomach accustomed to running nearly on empty, a product of training under Orochimaru. Getting out of the Sound had been a nice change. He had nearly forgotten that outside there still existed people who weren't seeking revenge.

However, all of this was forgotten as soon as he stepped inside the Leaf's borders. He was surprised at the total lack of feeling he had for the land he had once called home. Perhaps it was only because he was taking a roundabout forested route instead of walking in the streets of his childhood. Perhaps it was because he had a mission to do and had long since blocked out everything besides the task at hand. Still, somewhere deep down, a part of him told him that he had become as cold and indifferent as his mentor. In that same spot somewhere deep down, he was saddened. But it was, after all, somewhere deep down, and he was able to push it out of his mind as he considered the best way to infiltrate the village discreetly.

Yet, it wasn't necessary. It was almost too easy to penetrate the village walls without breaking a single brick, and astoundingly simple to get onto Hyuuga Lands. Was it because he'd become accustomed to the tightest security in the world during his time in the Sound? Or had Konoha's security always been so lax? He imagined it must have been so; otherwise, how would Orochimaru have gotten in so easily a few years back?

Almost before he knew it, he was peering through the branches of a tree, his dark eyes focused intently on the Hyuuga Manor. So far, he had only seen two Hyuuga guards standing at the entrance of the property, as if criminals would actually waltz up to the entrance and ask if they could wreak havoc on the manor. Sasuke was almost disappointed by the lack of security. Weren't the Hyuuga the most powerful, important clan in all of Konoha? Wouldn't the village make sure their strongest, longest-thriving clan would be kept safe from outside forces? Or did they just assume that since they were so well equipped in battle that they didn't need too much protection? It struck him as strange; it was almost too easy.

Before he knew it, the sun had gone down, and lights were glowing from inside the houses. Shadows could be seen ghosting past the screened windows. Now, Sasuke slid down as silently as a feline to crouch near the foundation of the house, catching snatches of conversation from inside the house. Something about clan funds, a person getting scolded for lighting a hallway plant on fire, congratulations for someone initiating ANBU training. Definitely not what he was looking for. Main branch family members wouldn't be left in charge of such tedious tasks as funding, no main branch member would be free enough to go around causing trouble in the most reserved Hyuuga home, and main branch members were strictly tied to serving their own clan, so much so that they almost weren't allowed to serve the village. He continued on, pressing himself close to the wall and straining his ears to hear for some sign of something to show him it was a main branch member.

Then, as he was nearly deciding that the whole damn manor was filled with nothing but branch members, he heard something that made him stop, right beneath the window of the last room.

It was crying. Quiet sobs floated to him through the thin walls of the house, miserable words coming through between the teary gasps.

"I… always try m-my best," a feminine voice whimpered. "But it's never good enough." Hiccups and gasps followed these words, and almost when Sasuke was about to move on, deciding that main branch members wouldn't be so weak as to cry, something the girl said changed his mind.

"Main branch… that's what's making my life so miserable. Being a main b-b-branch memb-ber…"

Wondering if he had heard right, Sasuke pressed his ears closer to the wall, refusing to breath just to catch the girl's whispers. He was rewarded, as at this point the girl seemed to break through the wall that was holding her back, and she began convincing Sasuke of her lineage.

"The b-b-branch members never have these p-p-problems. They're so free to do what they want. I hate this… why did I have to be first-born? Why did _I _have to be born heiress? Why did I have to be next in line?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, and he could see how lucky he'd been. It wasn't every day you managed to kidnap an heiress. This girl was guaranteed to have strong Hyuuga blood. Definitely lucky.

Inside, the girl continued to sob and mutter about how terrible it was to be a Hyuuga, how all the weight of a clan rested on her shoulders. Before she even had time to draw another gasp, a large hand wrapped around her mouth, and an arm wrapped around her body, holding her in an iron grip that was almost painful. She tried in vain to spin around and look at her assailant, but the arms that were her chains were too strong to break; it would be painful to twist in Sasuke's iron grasp. She began to scream, but it all her calls for help were silenced by his hand.

"Quiet!" he hissed, shaking her slightly. "Calm down."

She continued screaming under his hand, even attempting to shake herself free from his grip. She was soon tired and fell limp in his arms.

"Good," said Sasuke, taking her fatigue as resignation. "If you cooperate, this will be easy for everyone involved. I'm going to take you away," he said slowly, making sure every word made it into her head. As soon as she heard he was taking her away, she began writhing, working furiously to escape and have someone hear her.

"Shut up! I don't want to hurt you. Work with me here, and I promise you'll be fine," he said, knowing full well that she wouldn't be fine if Orochimaru had his way. He only wanted her eyes; the body was useless to him.

She ignored him and squirmed, jerking futilely. He held her tighter against him, letting out his words in a low hiss.

"You need to calm down. I'm not going to waste my time dealing with you trying to run away. You will follow me, because with me you'll be safe. There are dangerous things out there, and I'll be the only human being you'll see besides men with worse intentions. I'm going to blindfold you. When I take off the blindfold, I expect you to follow me. If you don't follow me, I swear that you won't find your way back."

Tears were running down her cheeks and drenching his hands, and more of the strange gasping sounds from earlier were coming through. She continued to fight, though much more weakly now, and Sasuke growled, "Be quiet, or I will kill you." He said this so sincerely that for once, the purple haired girl worked hard to silence her sobs.

"Good," Sasuke whispered once he saw she was cooperating. He then pulled her up into a ball, keeping one hand on her mouth and his other arm around her body as he pushed through the window and raced through the woods.


	7. Rabbit

A/N: Look a new chapter! It uses extensive punctuation, includes extensive references to obscure things that are obscure and thus, you do not know what they are, and extensive SasuHina. It's extensive to me anyway, because this story has been so lacking in SasuHina up till now. Bet you anything, this'll be the first chapter that gets more reviews, just cause of the SasuHina. Oh, fickle followers.

I had fun writing this. I was evil, but it was fun.

Enjoy this chapter of... _Oro's Jail!_

* * *

The sky was velvety black and the air barely stirred as his feet stepped stealthily into the no man's land between nations. On his back was a heavy wooden box, the panels of wood interlocking into an inescapable prison that smelled faintly of formaldehyde. He walked with a steady pace, eyes and ears alert to any sign of danger, fingers held lightly against the hilt of his katana. He barely noticed the thumps coming from the wooden box.

"Let me out," sobbed Hinata, beating her hands against the wood. She had cried so much in the last few hours that she was surprised she wasn't drowning in tears just yet. Now, her tears had run dry and her eyes felt swollen and itchy, but she couldn't stop her dry weeping. Moreover, her captor didn't even seem to notice her futile attacks at the box. At some point it had occurred to her that perhaps using ninjutsu against the box might her help her break out of it. It had proved useless, as the box seemed to be made of an impermeable and unshakable type of wood, or coated in some clever ninjutsu to stop just that sort of thing from happening.

Through all of that, she had to keep readjusting her legs to keep them from falling asleep. The box didn't allow for much movement, and every slight adjustment always ended up getting her into a position that was fractionally more uncomfortable than the last until eventually her limbs were so bent in on themselves that she was certain that once she came out of the box, if she ever did come out of the box, she'd remain in this twisted position for the rest of her life.

However, at the moment, that was the least of her worries.

She had never been particularly skilled at keeping track of time and relied on all sorts of clocks to keep her scheduled. The big sundial in the garden. A clan member passing her in the hall who, for some reason or other, always had the time. The position of the sun, dragging steadily across the blue sky, infusing it with its own personal hues and signifying the time of day. But here there were no gardens, and no sundials to shed their shadows of enlightenment upon her. There were no halls with passing clan members, all too willing to help the heiress in her quest for time. There was no sun, there was no sky, there were no cracks in this wooden coffin. Here, time passed as if not passing at all, and there was nothing to tell her otherwise. She had begun to fear that perhaps she would never be let out of here; her energy would slowly start to dissipate, her limbs would break, her body would eat itself, and still she'd stay inside this wooden tomb.

In fact, it was happening right now. Her frantic beating became nothing more than half-hearted pats on thick, unmoving wood. Slowly, slowly, slowly, as slowly as a land turtle, her sobs dissolved into stunned little gasps every few minutes, and her swollen eyes began to close with what felt like the weight of the world.

When she awoke, there was a throbbing at the back of her head and she found it impossible to move her body. Everything ached, and every tiny movement hurt so much that she tried to stay as still as possible. Even that hurt. But it was nothing compared to the pain her eyes suffered when, with a strange sucking sound, the top of her coffin was lifted up and off.

Hinata squinted her eyes through the blinding white brightness that filled her space. Suddenly, a black shadow filled her line of vision, and she gasped in fear. This was her captor, the man who she'd been unable to see clearly as her eyes had been so filled with tears, who had roughly stuffed her in this wooden prison as soon as he was clear of Hyuuga lands. This was the person who had ignored her desperate pleas for freedom, who heartlessly plucked her from her home and thrust her into a jail cell of uncertainty and fear. She suddenly realized that she hated this man, whoever he was, and she was surprised by the feeling, one that she'd never experienced. It was pure and strong, undiluted and rational, yet irrational at the same time, a feeling so potent that her gaze was momentarily red and she could feel the anger and loathing flowing through her system as if it was blood, infecting and conquering, creating wild ideas in her head.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was launching herself at him, her fingers bent harshly like animal claws, her legs unfolding with the sudden energy that filled her. Somewhere, her mind registered the crippling pain that reappeared as she attacked, but her fury overrode any other sensations, taking over like a virus. Chakra rushed through her fingertips as they connected with a hard body, and she shrieked in hatred and anger, urging her fingers to connect more, to attack more, to _hurt_ more. Uncontrolled and blind, her hands whipped around and around, searching for ways to incapacitate, to kill. So lost in her fury was she that it took her by surprise when a pair of strong hands wrenched her arms from behind and locked her into an inescapable hold.

"Stop that," a low voice said murderously.

Hinata twisted, trying to escape and continue unleashing her fury on him. "Let me go! I'm not finished!"

"No, you're finished," the voice said, its hold cutting painfully into her already pained hands. She felt something wrapping sinuously around her wrists and hands, crawling up her arms and downwards towards her feet. When she looked down, she could see thick black cords binding her feet together, pulling her ankles ever closer. She rolled her eyes, the fury not quite done. Of course. How could she think she'd be let off so easy? Clearly, it only made sense she'd go from one prison to the next.

With a resigned sigh, Hinata fell to the floor, lying on her side and gazing upwards at her subjugator. Her gaze held the residues of anger, now cold and hard, the hatred visible in the set of her brows. She lay there, her line of sight showing forest floor and open toed ninja shoes, pale skin flaring upwards into black cuffed pants. She laid there for quite a while, the shoes and calves as unmoving as stone. Then she began to get impatient, wondering why her captor did nothing. As the minutes stretched, the cold anger faded into worry at the man's unpredictability, and then from worry into the full blown fear of the wooden box, as pure and undiluted as her previous anger. Except this was much more chilling.

Before she knew it, she was trembling slightly, and her now fearful eyes searched upwards towards some kind of sign that the man wasn't doing something quietly wicked and frightening.

What she found was even scarier.

Past the black cuffed pants, past the purple rope tied firmly round his waist, past the pale spider-like fingers left lightly against the hilt of a katana, past the white, open shirt revealing a pale, sculpted chest, past the dark shadow beneath the jaw was a face so familiar, so legendary and notorious that all she could do was mouth the name.

He was doing absolutely nothing, just gazing down at her with his characteristic expressionless stare, the thin line of his lips unmoving, the straight line of his nose untwitching, the half-lidded slits of his eyes giving nothing away. And through all that, he didn't need to. His history told everything.

"P-please," stuttered Hinata, attempting to slide herself away and failing. She cursed herself for willingly falling to the ground.

Sasuke continued to stare down at her. Then, quite unexpectedly, he finally moved, and the movement was so fluid that Hinata suppressed a gasp of surprise.

She wondered where he'd gone, but she didn't have to wonder long. Almost as quickly as he'd left, he was back, holding a piece of something. Food.

"What in the wo-," she managed to say before he bent down on his haunches and stuffed it into her mouth. She almost spit it out, unable to stand the putrid taste in her mouth, but somewhere, a rational part of her decided she had to eat it, as she didn't know when would be the next time she'd eat. Besides, she hadn't eaten since… how long had she been captured?

As soon as he was convinced she'd eaten it, Sasuke gave a small satisfied nod and stood up again. He walked away again, leaving Hinata to keep facing the ground where he wasn't.

Hinata exhaled a held breath. If she kept doing that, she'd probably die of oxygen deprivation. And she was sure that it would happen often. The things she'd heard about Uchiha Sasuke were not good; in fact, they were the worst. She shuddered as she thought back. At first she'd thought getting kidnapped was bad. But, knowing that it was the Uchiha who was doing it instilled a higher level of fear into her. A kidnapper she could survive. Uchiha Sasuke… it probably meant certain death.

You could expect nothing less from the devil's apprentice.

A wave of hopelessness washed over her. She'd never get out of this. No amount of searches, ANBU or otherwise, could save her now. The man had been missing for years, and if he was still in league with Orochimaru, he'd have mastered the art of disappearing. She'd be disappearing now too.

The despair from before threatened to take over again, perhaps much harder this time, with gasping sobs involved. She couldn't continue crying that way. Her body already felt weak and waterless, her muscles ached and her head throbbed. It wouldn't be prudent to start crying.

Besides, crying hadn't solved anything before. Sure, it helped unleash her frustrations into physical form, physical liquid form, but it did nothing for the problem. Crying didn't solve anything. At that moment, Hinata resolved not to cry. It was a short lived resolution, however. Before long, she was crying, her salty tears running uncomfortably from one eye to the next before finally curving down the side of her face and into the dirt.

It was quiet except for the cries of birds and her own small gasps of despair. His steps were so silent and calculated, so well executed she didn't notice him returning, so wrapped up in self sorrow as she was. Before she knew it, Sasuke was kneeling before her, his face bent down close, and his gaze was now angry.

"Stop crying. I hate it when people cry." The seriousness of his tone made Hinata stop cold, her heart not having quite restarted beating from the scare he'd given her.

Then, Sasuke leaned over with his hands outstretched as if to hurt her. She cringed, bracing herself for the blows. But the blows never came. Instead, uncharacteristically tender hands lifted her and carried her over to a tree, where she was left sitting and leaning against its bark.

"You didn't have to fall over like that earlier," muttered Sasuke, looking at her quite seriously.

Hinata sat with bated breath, wondering why he was being so … almost kind. It made no sense.

"Now you're all dirty and it just makes more work for me," Sasuke said, clearly irritated. He stood and performed a seal. There was the rushing sound of water and then Hinata was gasping, her body assaulted with what felt like an entire river. Then, the river disappeared and in its place was wind, coming at her from all directions, throwing her right left, carrying her up and dropping her down again, slumping her against the tree like the rag doll from her childhood.

Sasuke stood with his arms crossed and looking at her, a curiously dissatisfied look on his face. "Rough… but it gets the job done," Hinata heard him mumble before he turned away to slide his back down a nearby tree. He leaned his head back against the trunk, closing his eyes and sighing. It was a sad sound, holding in its indescribably syllables a lifetime of sorrow.

Instantly, Hinata felt sorry for him. She hadn't known him in his Konoha days, not well, but in the few times she'd seen him, he'd been the quiet guy who hung back, isolated and always seemingly bored.

He'd had a family once, from what'd she'd heard. And they'd all been killed.

That had to be a terrible cross to bear.

However, as she glanced toward her feet, she forgot about her pity. The tight, black cords cutting into her skin reminded her that he was, after all, a kidnapper. A kidnapper and the village traitor. He deserved no sympathy.

Internally, she berated herself for being such a kind person. That's how it started. You begin to feel bad for your captor, sympathize even, and eventually you think that what they did was the right thing. It was a psychological game they played, and Hinata wanted no part of it.

In fact, it'd be best if she just stopped. Not speak to him, try to ignore him. Be as angry an unresponsive as possible. Yes, that's what she'd do.

It was difficult though, when he looked so sad.

* * *

"You have to eat it," he said, his face a shadow from the other side of the fire.

"But… I d-don't want to…"

"But you have to. I won't be getting anything else for you."

"Then … I won't eat." Hinata crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. She had meant to seem firm but instead the effect was comical. She looked like a little girl refusing to eat her vegetables.

"You have to eat," he said, and he was now standing, leaving his food abandoned to walk over to her, presumably to force her to eat.

She could feel her heart going into overdrive, afraid of what he might do so she would eat. And yet, she still refused to eat. She just couldn't bring herself to do it.

He was now sitting in front of her, and the look in his eyes was startling. It was inexplicably stern, and his eyebrows were lowered, making him look all the more menacing. He got closer than he'd ever been, so close Hinata finally noticed the dark circles under his eyes, terrible, purple things that in turn led her to discover the hollows of his cheekbones, emphasizing how thin he was. He was more intimidating at this distance than he'd ever been, and he was looking her straight in the eyes, his dark pupils seeming to try to convey something crucial to her.

"You're eating. Even if I have to force it down your throat. If I have to pump it through your veins, you're getting this food into your system. I don't have time for whining, and I don't have time for games. If you must know, I'm trying to be kind. If it was up to me, you'd be in a lot more pain than this. But I have specific instructions to keep you well, and I am not going to fail my mission because some bratty little girl refuses to eat rabbit. You better start chewing, or I swear that I will make this unpleasant for you."

It was a threat, and she could feel it. A tiny shudder ran down her spine, and she fervently hoped he hadn't noticed. He had, and it amused him. The first sign that he had any human left in him showed, a tiny tweaking at the corner of his lips. Instead of making him look happy, it just made him look even more sinister.

He stood and walked back with his own meal of wild rabbit, which he'd caught, killed, and skinned right before her fearful eyes, and sat himself down quite close to her, pointedly looking at her.

It wasn't necessary. His threat had hit the way he'd wanted it to, and she began to chew tentatively on the rabbit. She grimaced as she did, fighting with desire to eat and the disgust she felt at eating a cute little bunny. Eventually though, hunger won out and she began eating quite steadily, uncomfortably aware of his cold gaze on her.

He didn't start eating again until she was halfway through with the meat.

* * *

"Umm…is this thing really necessary," Hinata asked in a small voice. She weakly waved her arm in front of his face, showing him the small mark he'd put there, a smattering of dots and circles that itched uncomfortably.

He glanced at the black mark on her pale skin. "Yes," he said monotonously.

"Hmm," she murmured, resting her head comfortably against his shoulder. Since putting on the chakra control seal, she'd been much more trusting and had been crying less, he'd noticed. She'd also been a lot more lethargic, and it eventually became necessary for him to carry her on his back, the way Itachi used to carry him piggy back style, like when he was a kid. As this thought crossed his mind, Sasuke's grip tightened on her legs.

"Ow," she said quietly, lazily, barely.

"Sorry," he muttered, not at all apologetic. He loosened his grip slightly.

It was a burden having to carry her on his back like this. First, she couldn't hold on very tightly, weakened as she was, so he had to keep hoisting her up every once in a while in order for her not to fall. Secondly, had it been up to him, he would have stuffed her back into the wooden coffin. It was much easier to carry her that way, because he needn't keep hoisting her up his back. Something stopped him, however. It wasn't just the fact that he'd been instructed to let her out as soon as he was far enough away from Konoha that she wouldn't be able to find her way back. He himself had been stuck in a similar box a few years back, and it had been a cramped and unpleasant experience. He didn't want to subject her to that again.

Sasuke didn't like to admit that he didn't put her back in the box out of kindness. He pushed it to the back of his mind, that idea, but he knew it was true. How terrible. The notorious Uchiha was claustrophobic and had sympathy? That just couldn't be. He dispelled it.

And finally, there was a third reason, and this reason was perhaps the strangest of all.

Apart for being well-known for being village traitor and the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke was remembered in Konoha for one other thing. He was known to keep a personal no-contact space. It was a bubble, a clearly defined line that nobody could step past, a space that he practiced and maintained for many different reasons, one of them being as practice for keeping space between himself and an enemy ninja during a battle. It was a space that was not entered under any circumstances, a space that, once entered, could quickly become a person's death site.

And what he was doing now broke that rule, that carefully maintained rule that was perhaps the only vanity he allowed himself.

Nobody entered that space. Not since his mother and the clan doctor had anyone entered that space.

Hyuuga Hinata had just entered that space.

Not only entered that space, but completely attached herself to his body, as close as a person could possibly get without getting sewn together, her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs wrapped around his waist, her face resting on his shoulder.

It was the most uncomfortable he'd ever felt. His private space was invaded, and the worst part was that he couldn't fix it. It had to be this way.

No. That wasn't the worst part. The worst part was this strange sensation that inhabited him, something he was sure had to be sinister.

This sensation of …enjoying it? Was that what it was? Was he enjoying this?

Yes, he realized with chagrin. He _was_ enjoying this.

Some part of him _liked_ being this physically close to someone, even if it was someone he didn't particularly like, what with all the weak, girlish crying and clan membership. Some part of him _liked_ feeling her warmth there, constant and sure, tangible and very much there. Some part of him _liked_ holding her like this…his hands could feel her legs through the fabric of her pants, his neck burned with the touch of her arms, occasionally unclasping and reclasping in order to get some movement in the fingers, fingers that unconsciously brushed lightly against his skin, awakening all sorts of unwelcome feelings in him.

And then her breath. Half-asleep, her breathing was slow and warm against him, and she'd sporadically turn her face towards his neck, and it'd blow his hair slightly, finally reaching the sensitive nape of his neck. She would let out soft, feminine sighs, sleepy and unaware of his discomfort.

He didn't like it one bit. He didn't like those sensations, those foreign feelings that he knew had ruined many men. He was amazed at his own self control, wondering how in the world he'd acquired it. Ninja training had never taught him _that._

"Sasuke," Hinata sighed, turning her face toward his head. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, resolutely willing himself not to be stirred by his name on her lips.

"Hmm," he grunted.

"Why did you put this thing on me?" She again gestured to chakra seal on her arm.

"It's so you don't try to attack or run away," he said, forcing himself to stare straight ahead and ignore the feeling of her shifting her legs around slightly.

"Why would I run away," she asked sleepily, sighing into his hair.

"Uh… because you want to go home?" It sounded like a question, but he was distracted. He needed to stop being distracted.

"Oh," said Hinata.

"You sound like you're falling asleep. Maybe we should stop here for the night."

Her eyes widened as she was unceremoniously tossed off his back. Suddenly, her face was smashed into the dirt.

"There's something for you to sleep on," Sasuke muttered, and a mat and blanket fell with a soft thud next to her. She sat up just in time to see him walking brusquely away as far as he could in the small clearing, sitting down against the trunk of a tree and watching her with troubled eyes.

Her own eyes were widened in surprise. What had she done to deserve such an unkind expulsion from his back? Maybe he was just very tired…

She set about fixing her mat up, and she caught a glimpse of him as she was lying down. His gaze was intense on her and she felt uncomfortable lying there, vulnerable, as he stayed awake.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" she asked hesitantly.

Slowly, Sasuke shook his head.

"Oh," she mumbled, turning on her side so she'd face away from him.

It felt too weird to look at Sasuke. She felt as if she'd done something wrong and didn't know what it was yet, and perhaps he was angry with her.

She really hoped he wasn't angry with her.


	8. Kumogakure

A/N: This is where I get my muthah effing jollies, folks. Didja know I went back and reread what I'd written before round these parts? Well, I did. Not sure how anyone actually even read any of it, it fails. FAILS. Thanks for reading anything, anyway.

Umm... YES. SO. Quick summary. Sasuke kidnaps Hina for her AIBALLS (ohoho, doya see what I did thar?). Runs off through the forest, makes her eat rabbit, thinks her legs are kinda hot. OK YOU'RE CAUGHT UP.

Also. SPOILERS. They get an apartment. This is starting to sound like muther fugging _Torn._ I should quit now.

* * *

The forest was silent.

Nothing could be heard, not the twitter of birds, not the crunching of dead leaves, not any sign that there existed life in this forest. It was freezing, and the cold layer of dew that had settled on the ground settled on her hair and on her face, her lips cracking from the wet and the cold.

They were heading north.

Judging by the cold, judging by the variety of tree (Hinata had quite a bit of experience with botany), judging by her total lack of ever being _here_ (being a clan member and occasional member of a squad entailed a certain amount of traveling, and Hinata had never been to the Northern lands), they were heading north. Sasuke gave no indication when she'd question him on this, other than a raised eyebrow and an expressionless look in his eyes.

Eventually it became necessary to use heavy woolen cloaks, the kind that clasped at the neck, for the weather was bitingly cold.

They traveled very long, much too long, and Hinata was beginning to think she'd lose her speech soon; she'd gone so long without speaking. This, in turn, meant much too much thinking; her thoughts swirled around what her family was doing, how they had reacted to having found that their heiress was gone from her room. They'd probably searched and searched frantically, without finding any clues as to where she could be. As far as she knew, she wasn't kidnapped for ransom. No, there was something else that Sasuke had in mind for her.

Whatever was in his mind was unclear, however, as he kept walking quickly, just one step ahead of her. Occasionally, he'd waste his breath to tell her to hurry up, and she'd scurry along behind him, trying to speed up despite the cold hindering her speed. And, just when the cold began to get unbearable, they began to hear signs of civilization.

It was here that Sasuke stopped their progress, surprising her in his quick fluidity.

"Listen well. You and I are brother and sister now, alright? But you'll let me do all the talking for the most part, understand?"

She nodded, thinking that she didn't want to talk anyway.

Satisfied, he turned back around again, gliding several steps ahead of her. The voices they had heard grew louder in volume and, almost without warning, they found themselves in a large clearing where a wall several meters high loomed above them. Three burly men laughed stood before them, conversing happily about something or other, and the one speaking stopped mid-sentence when he caught sight of the two young people before him.

"Have you no manners? Make your presence known!" commanded the burliest of them all, the apparent leader.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, and this is Hyuuga Hinata. We come from the Land of Water."

"State your reasons for coming to Kumogakure," demanded the man gruffly. Sasuke glanced at Hinata, whose eyes had widened at hearing the of the Village Hidden in the Clouds, the hidden village in the Land of Lightning. His look was fleeting, however, as he turned the full force of his eyes back to the man.

"I come to join the ranks of your Shinobi and serve the most honorable Raikage," said Sasuke, his monotonous tone clashing spectacularly with what one might classify as an overly zealous statement.

The burly man seemed not to notice. His large face broke into a moronic grin. "Well, good luck, comrade!" he said cheerily as he waved his arm towards the other men. They began cranking two large wheels, with a great creaking effort, the gates pulled back. With an astonishing shudder, they stopped, revealing a small squad of men poised for battle.

"Let 'em through," called the burly man at the gates. Hinata found herself clinging to Sasuke's sleeve as they walked by. Though her eyes were wide with fright, he passed by the men casually, barely sparing them a glance.

To Hinata's great surprise, the hidden village was not immediately through the trees as she'd expected. She was dying to ask Sasuke how much longer it'd be till they reached the actual village, but at the risk of sounding like a whiny child, she refrained. Briefly, she brushed up on all she'd ever learned about the Lighting Country. One of the five great shinobi nations, its hidden village was an ally of the Leaf and its leader was the Raikage. According to the History Scrolls they read from, the Raikage was a kind, good leader, taking very good care of his people, who thusly respected him and looked up to him.

Other than that, she knew little. The History Scrolls tended to concern themselves solely with Konoha.

The trek up the mountain was long and grueling. It eventually became foggy, and visibility was virtually non-existent, forcing Sasuke to hold Hinata's hand and lead her through the dense cloud cover. At first, his calloused hand surprised her, and she emitted a tiny gasp, but he seemed not to notice; he merely tugged her along through the thick fog, eventually stopping suddenly.

"Try not to speak when we go in," he murmured and abruptly let go of her hand. Go in where, she wondered, sensing no difference in their surroundings. She followed the sound of his footsteps and, not ten feet later, the clouds cleared as if they'd merely been imaginary.

And what they met was astounding.

A bustling city opened up before them, its buildings extending up into a sky with cottony clouds through which the sun shone dimly through. It was the most amazing place Hinata had ever seen. As if designed by some mad architect, the buildings were a hodgepodge of different design, circular mixed with square, warmly traditional mixed with coldly efficient.

People walked all around, and soon Hinata found herself being led along the winding, narrow street by Sasuke, who didn't even turn back to make sure she was following. She nearly lost his wide white shirt at some point, and frantically searched the people around her, failing to catch a purple rope belt anywhere. He showed up eventually, surprising her from behind, glaring at her in a way that made her want to recoil into her clothes.

"Don't do that," he told her angrily, and grabbed her by the hand like he'd done in the forest, eventually leading her to a street where the buildings were not as tall as those in the entrance of the town.

It was the Shinobi Headquarters of Kumogakure. Two guards stood at the gate of the place, asked them their purpose for coming, and quickly allowed them in. They passed through a courtyard full of well-built men and several athletic women. Seeing them training in the courtyard brought a sad smile to Hinata's face as she remembered a time when she too was a ninja.

It seemed as if Sasuke knew exactly where to go. He walked quickly, and turned abruptly, not stopping to ask for permission from the guards to go into the room. The guards ran into the door after him, sputtering apologies to the gray haired man sitting behind the desk behind clouds of smoke.

"Who let this fool in here?" he boomed from behind the smoke obscuring his face, standing up swiftly and angrily. Hinata cowered by the wall while Sasuke answered, "Uchiha Sasuke, here to join your ranks of shinobi."

"Well son, before you can join the Cloud's ninja, you have to prove yourself worthy. And one of the biggest indicators of worth around these parts, whether you know it or not, is respect. And one of the biggest forms of _dis_respect around here is barging through doors, you understand?" said the man, his face livid. He exhaled a bit of his cigar smoke right into Sasuke's face, who didn't even blink.

"I come from the Rain. If there's anything we know, it's respect. Look it up in your records," Sasuke growled, and the man leaned away slightly. "Moreover, you should be thanking me. If an enemy infiltrates your village, you do realize that no amount of respect would stop ninjutsu, don't you? You do realize that they could essentially barge in here, launch an attack, and you'd be completely caught unawares, puffing away on that death stick in your mouth, eventually gargling out the single word "respect" while your world burned around you. Respect is nothing if you can't defend it. You should be thanking me" he repeated.

"Thanking you? Thanking _you_? What for?"

Sasuke sighed, a tired, bored sound, and said in a low voice, "I just passed through your front gates, through the Fog Forest, through your village and through those front doors without any opposition whatsoever. What if I was some sort of killer, some sort of kidnapper? You do realize that you're sitting here, whining about respect, when your village is not sufficiently defended?"

The gray-haired man stood dumbfounded for a second, his cigar balancing precariously on the edge of his lip. "Huh," he grunted. Then, he surprised Hinata. He actually _laughed_. Not just a small chuckle, but huge manly guffaws that seemed to come from way down in his stomach. "Kidnappers! What an idea!" He clapped Sasuke on the shoulder. "I like you, kid. You've got moxie. Juro," he yelled suddenly, starting one of the guards. "Sign him in at once. That's all the interview he needs."

"Right away sir," Juro stuttered, running out the door.

The man only just seemed to notice Hinata shrinking into the wall. She started as he called to her, saying, "And who would this little lady be?"

"Sister," answered Sasuke tersely. He was staring at a wall, seeming completely unimpressed by this gray-haired man.

"Well, sister, what would your name be?"

"Her name is Hyuuga Hinata."

"Oh. And why don't you share the same surname?"

"Half siblings. We don't talk about it." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude," answered the man. "Well, Uchiha and Hyuuga siblings, I'm Takahashi, though they generally call me handsome." He paused, waiting for his joke to set in, and when they didn't laugh, he frowned. "Guess they wash away humor in the Rain. Anyway, you can call me Takahashi. Will you be lodging here?"

"No," answered Sasuke. "We've a place in the village."

"No problem, no problem!" said Takahashi, sucking in on his thick cigar. "In fact, it saves me a few pennies." He gave another booming laugh. "Here's a schedule. Be prompt. And be gone with you!"

Sasuke glared at him one more second and turned, muttering for Hinata to follow him. She did, stumbling over her wool coat, all the way through town until they reached an unimposing three story building in the heart of the village.

On the second floor, Sasuke produced a key from inside his wool coat and opened the third door on the right into a small unassuming apartment. There was a kitchen immediately entering the apartment, with a dividing wall behind which the living room was found, with the bathroom and the bedroom on the other side. It was sparingly furnished, as if someone owned it and had never removed their things, but they'd owned very little - very little and very unattractive furnishings.

She was just stepping in, looking at her surroundings, when she felt a breeze push her bangs aside, and a door slammed shut.

Sasuke was gone.


End file.
